


Cellist of the High School

by WittyWritingWriter



Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Phantom of the Opera Fusion, Cellist, Cello, Childhood Friends, Concert, F/M, Fusion of Book and Movie, Genderbending, Genderswap, Love Triangle, Music, Musical, Phantom - Freeform, Phantom of the Opera - Freeform, multiple AUs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-08-27 00:18:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 24,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16691719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WittyWritingWriter/pseuds/WittyWritingWriter
Summary: Combining both the book and the play/movie, The Phantom of the Opera now becomes this alternate universe where the genders have been switched, the time-line is more current, and they're all in high school...





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

“He’s quite a prodigy, I must say.” smiled Mr. Chagny. He was watching Christian Daaé correctly play each note to Beethoven’s symphony on his cello.

Mr. Chagny was a wealthy man who had met Mrs. Daaé recently when she sang at a local fair, with her son accompanying her on his cello. He was enchanted by their performance and introduced himself to the two, now visiting them on his vacation time.

“I tell him to take a break from it,” Mrs. Daaé agreed, “but he insists he shall become the best just to play for me.”

“A noble quest if I ever did hear one.”

“Yes, but I do wish he would find other things that amuse him.” she frowned as she spoke, “It is just as well that he loves his craft, but one day he will grow tired of it, and regret not living his childhood to the fullest.”

“Well why don’t we see if little Ruth can fix that?” he motioned to the girl who stood inches away from Christian.

“Are you almost done with that?” scowled the five year old girl.

The mature, yet slightly younger Christian paused for just enough time to give her the answer, “No.”

Ruth plopped onto the dirt in her summer weight pink dress, “How long are you going to practice for? You’ve been at that for _hours_!”

“I must be the best.” Christian attempted to hush her.

Distracted, Ruth saw her opportunity to snatch Christian’s bow, “Even the best take a break.” she smiled as she ran with the rod.

Christian made sure to carefully lean his prized possession against his seat before chasing after the girl, “Be careful with that!” he warned.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m not going to break it.” Ruth quickly opened the back gate that led to the beach behind the Daaé household.

The two parents kept an eye on their children as they ran off.

“What did I tell you?” beamed Mr. Chagny, “My Ruth has a knack for getting on people’s nerves, yet able to loosen their gears.”

“Mostly just pluck at their nerves.” commented Felicia, Chagny’s eldest child.

Mrs. Daaé laughed as she stroked Felicia’s hair, “Now, you should be happy to have such an adorable little sister.” she said.

“So I’m told…” grumbled Felicia.

“Imagine if you didn’t have Ruth. You’d be like Christian, finding most of your amusement with instruments, and other objects that cannot love you back.” Mrs. Daaé shook her head, “That is not what I want for my son.”

Tears of laughter rolled down Ruth’s face as she tumbled to the ground. Christian stopped above her with a smile across his face, “You’re a pretty fast runner.” he breathed heavily.

“Why thank you, Mr. Daaé.” she panted back, “You kept up pretty well.”

Christian did a slight bow, “You’re too kind, Miss Chagny.” he sat in the sand next her.

Ruth stuck his bow out in front of him, “Go nuts.” she smiled.

He gently grasped it and pulled it closer to himself, as Christian leaned towards her. He gave her a small kiss on the forehead. Ruth blushed.

They sat there for a while longer, chatting about small childish things that an adult would have ignored, until their parents called for them.

Seeing that their plan had worked, and that the children were fond of each other, Christian and Ruth spent most of their summer together. They would play in the sand, go to the park, or Ruth would even tolerate spending some time listening to Christian as he practiced his cello. Was there really anything to ruin this wonderful life?

Yes; yes there was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christian shot up in his bed as sweat trickled down his face. Again, his past had appeared to him in an untouchable dream. Why did these happy memories haunt him so?

He had spent a wonderful summer with that Chagny girl those many years ago, but she moved away when school started. In one night, she was gone, Christian never being pre-warned of their leaving to another country.

Devastated, Christian played his cello even more often to get her out of his mind.

But tragedy struck again a couple of years later when Christian’s mother got sick. The doctors tried to help her, but with little money and no relations around, she died within days.

Christian laid back down as he remembered the last conversation he had with his mother.

He could still clearly see her weak and tired face look at him as she said, “Don’t be sad, my little laddie,” she smiled, “I will not leave you alone.”

“Oh, mother,” Christian had pleaded, “I would much rather you not leave me at all!”

She chuckled softly as she rubbed the side of Christian’s face, “I’m sorry, but I must. But I’ll tell you what,” she motioned for him to move closer, “I will send you a guardian to watch over you.” a tear rolled down her cheek, “A guardian who will care and help you in ways I never could…” her hand fell as her body became still.

After the funeral was held, with the small attendance of only Christian, the pastor, and Dr. Valerian - the man that had tried to save Mrs. Daaé - nobody came to claim the boy.

Christian was going to be put into an orphanage, but Dr. Valerian took him in. His wife had been a fan of the Daaés’ and their musical performances, but she too had died a few months ago, so the good doctor was alone in his home, with plenty of room for the boy.

Of course he was a kindly man, aiding the boy in anything he needed and being as much of a parent figure as he possibly could, but it was not the same. Christian could hardly look at his cello, let alone play it.

He looked about his not yet unpacked room. Dr. Valerian had gotten a transfer and now Christian had to get used to a new town and a new high school as a junior, but they were already a month into their year.

Christian rolled over and stared at the wall. Why did it seem he was so alone? At his old school he didn’t have any friends and he was ignored. What did they know of his pain? Obviously nothing, as he would watch his classmates be picked up by their parents or even older siblings. Christian had never known his father, but his mother rarely mentioned him at all. She was the only parent he’d ever had.

“But where is my guardian?” he spoke aloud, “Am I too much of a burden for even him to help?”

More sorrowful memories attacked him that night as he drifted back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Dr. Valerian entered the kitchen that morning and observed Christian, pathetically trying to eat his cereal. “Chin up, man.” said the doctor, “I’ve looked into the school and it’s a fine establishment, making it their number one priority to keep any hooligans out.”

“I’m not afraid of hooligans,” frowned Christian, standing to put his bowl in the sink, “I’m just not enthusiastic about people in general.” 

“Surely you don’t mean that.”

“I’m sure I do.” 

The two stared at each other with anger, but Dr. Valerian softened, “You can not continue to live in the past, Christian. You need to let her go.” he lifted a piece of paper that was lying on the counter, “There is a music class that I would like you to attend.” Christian’s eyes widened, “They have all sorts of instruments, including the cello.”

“Never!” Christian growled as he swiftly grabbed his backpack and rushed out of the house. 

The door slammed against the wall, then slowly swung back into place. 

Dr. Valerian shook his head as he lifted his coffee mug, “You can’t run away from your troubles, my boy.” 

Christian stared at the ground as he stood at the bus stop. He had sworn within himself to never play that instrument again. He’d played it for his mother and only her. How could he possibly take it back up again?

The big yellow vehicle pulled up in front of him. As the doors swung open the driver looked down at the boy, “Are you coming?” he asked. As Christian slinked in, he stopped him a moment, “I don’t believe I’ve seen you before. Are you new on my route?” he said. Christian nodded, “Well, then,” he continued, “I’m Mr. Jerry. My son Martin is back there somewhere.” he grinned, revealing his crooked (even some missing) teeth. 

Christian took an empty seat as the previously gathered students stared at him. He was always told that he was a handsome young man with his light red hair and green eyes, but with the looks he was receiving now, he wondered if all those compliments had been lies. 

“No, I heard it!” protested a little boy sitting behind Christian. 

“I don’t believe you.” his friend replied, “You really can be a big fibber, Martin.”

“It’s true, Jamie!” he quieted for a moment, “My Dad says I shouldn’t talk about it, but I know what I heard, and what others have even seen.” 

“But some kind of ghost haunting our school? Doesn’t seem to be possible.”

“Well, one of these days when it snatches you away, you can tell it that you don’t believe it exists. Tell me what it replies!”

Christian pulled out his phone and began to play Fruit Slicer, but some of his interest had been peaked with this ghost prattle. He opened up the notepad app on his phone as he listened to the locations where the ghost seemed to appear the most. He wasn’t too surprised to hear that the main location seemed to be the unused half of the building. It was an old structure that used to be owned by Mr. Debroski and Mr. Poland but was now owned by Mr. Arnold Monchester and Mr. Fredrick Richardson.

He locked his phone and slid it into one of his pockets. He’d never thought of going to that section of the establishment, but maybe he’d just look around after classes were over. 

The bus pulled up beside the school and the students poured out, with Christian lacking behind them all. 

When he entered the building, he went to the principal’s office as instructed. He was greeted, then given instructions on how his class schedule was to work. 

Christian saw the second item listed, “Music class?” he asked. 

“Yes,” smiled Mr. Richardson, the principal, “your legal guardian told me you are quite the musician. He even purchased a cello just for you to use.” 

Christian’s eyes widened. “He did what?!” he hollered.

Taken aback, Mr. Richardson regained the floor as he spoke more firmly, “He purchased it for you and we kept it here for safe keeping. He didn’t want anything to happen to it during your move.”

“But he knows that I-” Christian yelled more, but was cut off.

“Young man,” demanded the principal as he too became louder, “you will not raise your voice at me. We at Garnier High School do not tolerate this kind of behavior.” Christian tightened his lips, “Now,” continued Mr. Richardson, “I do not know your home life situation, but I know for a fact it will not hurt you to at least sit and listen in the music class. You do not have to play and I’ll even give you…” he pulled out a note card and scribbled something down, “this is a note excusing you from participating in playing the cello,” Christian took the note and looked it over, “though I do hope your attitude towards the subject changes some day.” 

Christian slipped the paper into a pocket and left without another word. What was Dr. Valerian thinking? He must have planned this sometime ago, but he hadn’t said anything. 

Christian entered his class and took his seat. Just like on the bus, other students stared at him and whispered to each other. Christian was feeling more alone every second. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Using his map, Christian made his way to the music room. It seemed that this room was an after thought, as it was placed in the furthest part of the school.

He grasped the knob to the door and gently pushed it open. He was surprised to find that no one else had yet arrived. As he entered, Christian quickly looked at the schedule, then to his watch. He was supposed to go to the auditorium for a brief announcement after his first class, but he had completely missed it. Concluding that it was too late to make his way there, Christian decided to just stay put. 

He placed his backpack and supplies down and took a look around. There were violins hanging on the walls, symbols sitting neatly on a shelf, and various other instruments about the room, but there was one large case that caught his eye. A shiver went up Christian’s spine as he realized what had to be in that case. It had a small tag hanging from the handle that said, “Daaé” on it. 

A feeling of ungratefulness came over him. Dr. Valerian had bought this for him, the least he could do was take a look at it. 

Christian opened the case and looked over the large cello. It was more beautiful than he’d imagined. He stroked the instrument, noticing his initials engraved in gold curved around the bottom. 

Nostalgia engrossed him as his finger tips longed to hold the bow, to hug the cello close to him, to play! 

He was at a standstill with his right hand wrapped around the neck of  _his_ cello, but he couldn’t convince himself to actually take it out. He thought of retreating, when he heard a faint voice whisper, “Do it…” Believing it to be his conscience, he decided to try it out, when he heard footsteps approaching. 

Snapping out of his illusion, Christian slapped the case closed and snapped down the locks. He scrunched his face as he shook his head. What was he thinking? He didn’t even really remember how to play. 

He took a seat and waited for the one that approached to enter. 

“Are you afraid?” said the voice.

Christian frowned, “Of wood and strings?” he replied, “Hardly.” 

“Then why do you run from it?” 

The door opened and a tall, tanned man entered. He looked over at Christian, “Hello,” he greeted, as he placed a briefcase on the large desk, in front of the room, “seems that someone is enthusiastic about music.” 

Christian shook his head, “Quite the opposite. Are you the teacher?” 

“Yes; that’s why I get the big desk.” he smiled.

Christian stood and walked up to the man, “Here,” he said as he handed him a note, “this is from the principal.”

The man looked it over, then raised an eyebrow, “Wait, you are Daaé?” he said before pointing to the case in the corner, “Then what’s up with that thing? If you don’t play, why do you have that?” 

“It was a mistake made on my legal guardian’s part, but I intend on having it corrected.”

The man shook his head as he tossed the note onto his desk, “Can’t fight with that,” he slumped onto his chair, “and I was looking forward to hearing you play. Rumor has it you were pretty famous back in the day.” 

A sour look came over Christian’s face which caused the man to change the topic, “I’m Mr. Persia, by the way.” chatter was heard coming down the hallway, “You had better take your seat now.” 

The children swarmed into the room as soon as Christian sat in his seat. The head of the pack being Carlos, the high and mighty prima divo, with his little doggy girlfriend, Peggy, clinging close to him. It didn’t take Christian long to realize that he was the head of the music class, playing the lead violin. 

Class had barely begun when Carlos raised his hand, asking if they could practice some of Beethoven’s works for their upcoming musical production as an orchestra.

“I’ve told you before,” answered Mr. Persia, “the song you want to play was made for a cello. Not a violin.”

He gave the teacher an annoyed look as he leaned back in his chair, “Wait!” he squealed as he spotted the case in the corner, “That looks like a cello!” without permission, he stood and ran over to the case. Being the son of one of the owners, Carlos was pretty much allowed to do as he pleased. The school promoted discipline, but the owner apparently didn’t apply it to his own child. He looked at the tag, “Who is dah… ee?” he struggled to pronounce the name. 

“It’s Daaé, Carlos.” grumbled his teacher, “Now take your seat.”

“I know that name!” said one of the girls, “My parents once heard Mrs. Daaé sing a song along with her kid accompanying her on the cello.” 

“Well why doesn’t she play?” came the retort from Carlos.

“ _He,”_ coughed Mr. Persia, taking Carlos by the shoulder and leading him back to his seat, “is not interested in playing.” he left Carlos at his desk.

“Huh?” he grumbled, “I bet _he_ can’t play!” a smug look crossed his face, “He’s probably just a fake.” 

Christian ignored his words. Who knows, maybe he can’t play.

Though, he went too far as he stabbed at Christian’s heart even harder, “He probably used some kind of recorder and pretended to play.” he chuckled. 

What did this snob know? Obviously his mouth was too big for his face. 

“And his mother? I bet she was also a fake.”

That was far enough. As Carlos was about to go on, Christian shot out of his chair, “You hold your tongue,” he steamed, “how dare you talk about her like that. If anyone is the fake, it’s you, rich boy.”

The room fell silent and pale as they looked at Christian’s angry face. His eyes burned as he desired to just leave this stupid school, to never look back on the idiots that plagued him, but what if the voice was right? Why was he running?

“Calm yourself, Mr. Daaé.” said their teacher.

Coming back to reality, Carlos shook off Christian’s glares, “If you want me to shut up, then how about you prove your capabilities.” he stormed over to the cello again, grabbed hold of it and dragged it over to Christian, “Show us that you can play this! You so-called child prodigy!”

Christian stared at the case as his hands shook. He just had to try, right? He had to save his family name. They weren’t a bunch of con artists. 

He was reaching for the instrument, when the lights began to flicker. 

Peggy screeched as one of the long light fixtures on the ceiling fell and came crashing down on top of Carlos. He had released the cello, and Christian snatched it up as it began falling to the floor. 

While Peggy passed out, some of the students ran out of the room to the nurse’s office, others helped Mr. Persia get the lights off of Carlos. 

In shock, Christian backed up against the wall. Why had that thing fallen? 

Hairs stood on the back of his neck as he heard a chuckle coming from behind him, but there was nothing there. 

“ _What is going on here?!”_ Christian thought to himself. 


	3. Chapter 3

The fixture was looked into, but the only conclusion they could come to was that it fell plainly because it was old, but Carlos was their main focus. After the brief assessment from the school nurse, it was discovered that Carlos had minor injuries, but he had landed on one of his wrists, twisting it badly. He was sent to the hospital to get the full diagnosis, but the fact was that the music room was in trouble. This just about caused Peggy to go into a comatose state. Carlos was going to be the lead in their upcoming production, but now he wouldn’t be able to play.

Mr. Persia asked around his students if any of them would be willing to take his place, but they all refused with their own excuses. Some complained that they would be far too nervous to play in front of all those people. Others said that they were ok at playing, but not leader worthy. This left their teacher desperate.

He eventually came to Christian, “What about you?” he asked, “You’ve played in front of crowds before, you must have better nerves then my other students.”

“No, sir.” came the response, “I keep telling everyone, I do not want to play.”

“Then at least humor me!” responded the man, placing a hand on Christian’s shoulder, “I want you to think about it. I want you to actually ask yourself if you don’t _want_ to play, or if you refuse to because of her.” Christian tried to reply, but his teacher continued, “Did you ever consider that your playing may actually be honoring your mother, rather than dishonoring her? I don’t believe it was her desire for you to give up on something that you loved.” he left Christian to think about it, hoping to hear his answer tomorrow.

When the other classes were over, Christian found himself wandering by the music room. Everyone was heading home so who was to know if he just… plucked at his cello.

Since the music room itself was pretty much off limits, with needed repairs, Christian would have to find somewhere else to test out the cello. That’s when Christian remembered the haunted, abandoned part of the school.

He retrieved his instrument and ventured to the darker part of school. Thankfully he found a flashlight in the janitors closet and was able to make his way through the darkness.

It took him a while, but he found what seemed to be, or at least was at one point, the old music room. Christian only assumed this because of the walls decorated with musical notes, but there was only a two-seater couch and lamp for it’s furnishing. What were the odds that the lamp would actually work?

Be that as it may, Christian found an outlet, plugged it in, and flipped the switch. Oddly enough, it worked. The room lit up with a subtle haze, which was convenient because Christian didn’t want anyone to see the light and find him. It was just enough.

He laid the case on the floor and stared at his possession. Why did it feel as though he were hording a precious treasure? He took it and pulled down the endpin, and brought the cello towards his chest with a familiar motion.

Going off of a guess, he turned the pegs to the angles he believed they needed to be, then lightly held his bow against the first string. He let out a loud sigh then gently glided it across the strings. What he was even attempting to play, he did not know. He just felt riveted to even be playing.

He felt as if he was dancing as he moved back and forth with the bow, shaking his hand to play vibrato, and for just a moment he thought he could hear his mother singing, but this came to an end as the cello shrieked. He’d played a foul note.

He tried again, but it still sounded wrong. He then tried to fix the pegs again, but he couldn’t get it right. It was all wrong!

Christian pushed the cello away from him and stood to his feet. He stomped across the room.

“It’s not right!” he howled in agony, “The talent is gone, the love is gone…” tears rolled down his face, “and my mother will never sing with me again.” the room was silent as it had no comfort for him. It too had been left alone as others moved on without it.

“What if she is?” came the haunting voice from before.

Christian searched the room, “Who’s there?” he called.

“I understand your sorrow, Christian Daaé.” the voice continued, “But I can help you.”

“How?” asked Christian, “Why should I trust you?”

After a soft chuckle, the voice continued, “Do you trust your heart?”

“I don’t understand.” a thought popped into Christian’s head. Was it possible? Was this really the person whom his mother had promised him? “Are you my…” he stumbled.

“Yes, Christian; I am your caretaker; your heart’s protector; I am the guardian sent from your mother.”

Christian took a step back. His whole body shook with… was it fear? Or was it excitement? “I thought she had lied,” he confessed, “so that I wouldn’t be afraid.”

“Do I not prove other wise?” came the reply, “My absence is my own fault. I gave you time to fend for yourself, but obviously that was a mistake. I’ve now come to help you.”

“And how do you intend on doing that?” Christian replied harshly. What if he was being punked? He would forever be the laughingstock of the entire school.

There was silence for some time before it spoke again, “It’s clear that you do not trust, but I should have expected that… Christian, I will help you play the cello flawlessly once again.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“No, you will not see.” Christian was stunned as the strum of a cello echoed through the room, “You will listen.” Christian looked around the room to see if he could find the speakers, but there was nothing. Where was this melancholy music coming from?

After completing an unknown piece, quite mystifying in melody, the music stopped.

“That was… amazing.” spoke Christian softy, still transfixed by the sounds echoing through his ears.

“I thank you, but I know it is not perfect.” said the voice, “I need a maestro more talented than I, one who can bring my music to it’s complete potential. Christian,” it spoke gentler, “you need to play for me.”

“But I can’t.” he frowned, “You must have heard me try before; I am no longer the cellist that I once was.”

“I shall fix that.”

The light went out and Christian could not even see his hands in front of his face.

“What’s going on?” he asked loudly.

A hand grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the couch, “Relax yourself,” whispered the voice. It was so close to him that Christian could hear it clearly. It was definitely a woman talking to him.

She placed the cello into position, then softly moved Christian’s hand to the neck, and slid the bow into the opposite hand. He heard her tamper with the tuning pegs, then take a step back.

“Try that.” she spoke with glee.

“In the dark?” asked the confused Christian.

“Ahhh, but the dark is the best place to express your true heart. Don’t pay attention to the papers they give to you. The music sheets are the spirits of other artists. I want to hear you play like you did before. It was your own original, it came from inside of you.”

Christian brushed the bow against the strings, but couldn’t help but feel stupid, “I don’t think I can-”

“Don’t think,” she grasped his hands and moved with him to play a soft tune. They were playing it together for some time, then she let go, letting him play alone.

It wasn’t a real song, it definitely wasn’t an acknowledgeable rhythm, but Christian was having fun. He completed by holding a low note, then releasing quickly.

“Fantastic, Christian.” said the voice, “With my help and guidance, you will be the one everyone admires and longs to be friends with.”

Christian leaned back on the couch, “That would be better than being ignored.”

“There is no chance of that, I assure you.” her voice inched further away, “But you must always come here everyday after school. It is very important. Do you understand?”

“Yes, of course.” Christian smirked with joy finally returning to his flesh, “I can’t imagine going anywhere else!”

“Excellent. Until tomorrow, then…”

The light turned back on and Christian looked about him. The voice was gone and he was alone.

Christian started putting his cello back, when he found a red rose with a black ribbon tied around it in the case. He carefully lifted it.

“I’ll take this as a sign,” he tucked the stem into his coat pocket, letting the head peak out of it. “Things are finally looking up.”


	4. Chapter 4

Christian walked into his house, still lightly petting his rose.

“Where have you been?” asked Dr. Valerian calmly. He was now used to Christian just wandering off, eventually finding his way home around dinner.

“At the school,” he replied coolly.

Dr. Valerian raised a brow, “School ended an hour ago. What were you doing there?”

Christian smiled, surprising the doctor. In all his years of taking care of that boy, he had never seen such a grin come across his face. “I was playing my cello.” said Christian.

“Were you really? Oh, that is excellent news! I wasn’t sure if you would be mad at me for purchasing it… but I really did think it was for the best. How did it feel to get back into the _rhythm_ of things?”

“It felt good, but…” Christian trailed slightly, “I don’t think I would have done it if my guardian hadn’t convinced me.”

“Who?”

“The guardian mother promised me.” he grinned wider, “I was finally able to meet her today, and I never felt so alive.”

Not sure what his young companion was going on about, but afraid to squash this new found happiness, Dr. Valerian just smiled and nodded, constantly repeating, “That’s good, my boy. That’s good.”

After dinner, Christian went to his room and started going through his possessions. “It has to be here…” he mumbled, “Ah-hah!” he picked up the item and plopped it onto his bed, then sat down beside it. Christian brushed a hand across the top of a small cello case, “Hello, old friend.” he unlatched the case and pulled out his old instrument that was no longer the right size. “You almost look like a violin.” he teased the inanimate object.

He let out a large sigh before pulling out a small piece of paper from the case. He looked over it briefly before crumbling it in his hands. “Long ago I signed this contract,” he announced coldly to himself, “but as of today, it has been retracted.” with a flick of his wrist, he threw it into the garbage can.

The next day he told Mr. Persia of his resolve and that he would brush up on his skills, and play as lead for their orchestra.

“That is exactly what I was hoping to hear!” exclaimed the teacher happily, yet relieved, “Glad you changed your mind.”

Christian grinned slightly, “Let’s just say that a friend had a very convincing argument.”

“Well I hope they continue to convince you. We really need your help, here. How about we work on our little musical today?”

“If you will, sir,” said Christian, still feeling quite rusty, “I would like to have more time to prepare.”

“But the best kind of practice you can get is with your fellow band.”

“Yes, but I still need to warm these hands… do you mind if I just let the others practice together while I continue on my own? Just until I can find my feet once more?”

Mr. Persia grimaced at this boy’s request, but gave in.

As the days went by, Christian found himself getting more and more excited about going to his “private sessions”. He felt memories of his past successes flash through his mind, and he listened for the sweet, lingering voice of his mother that still wrung through his ears as he played each note.

It had taken some time, but Christian had finally re-memorized each note by ear.

He could play songs by Beethoven, Mozart, and other composers by just moving in the way he felt was correct. He would find at times that he moved incorrectly, but the voice would tell him to ignore what his head was telling him, and to just go with his feelings. His guardian had started to stay in the room with him now and he enjoyed hearing her voice coming from a close proximity.

One day, though, things were different.

That Friday was the day before Christian’s music class’s production and his nerves were kicking in. He had played with his class a few times now and had done quite well, but now he felt as if all his work could come crumbling down.

He carefully made his way to the abandoned music room, flipped on the lamp, and sat on the couch.

“Oh, guardian,” spoke Christian softly, “you have reawakened the musician in me, and I am very grateful to you, but I don’t know what to do anymore. Mom and I had small crowds, but this is going to be the whole school! What if I mess up by striking the wrong note? I don‘t know if I could handle being laughed at.” he rested his head in his hands, “What should I do?”

The room was silent. If anyone had heard Christian’s meltdown, they would have thought him mad for speaking to an invisible “guardian”.

Christian stood with a confused look on his face, “Guardian?” he called silently, “Are you there?” he checked his watch. It was the right time. Obviously; it had to be! School was out, so he was supposed to be here. Yet… there was no reply.

Distraught and confused, Christian pulled out his cello. Maybe he was being tested to see if he could play alone. He propped his cello up against himself and got into position, but he paused. What was he going to play?

“ _That tune…”_ he thought to himself, _“the tune she played the first day we met. I remember…”_ Christian started playing, capturing every note as he remembered it.

Soon, a reverberating cello was heard playing along with him. They played together in harmonious rhythm, until the song was cut short by it’s unfinished ending.

“You certainly are a gifted one.” said the voice.

“I give the credit to you, my teacher.” he said with a smile.

“I see…” she said gently, “so you trust me?”

“With my life!” he exclaimed emphatically, “You have brought me back to a living human being. I feel more alive then I have ever felt before when I am with you.” his voice became softer, “I just wish we could play our cellos together more often. That was pretty amazing.”

The voice chuckled, “Maybe another day.” she said, “Today, we must prepare you for your musical debut.”

They practiced longer that day then they had any other. Most would have thought this constant training would be exasperating, but Christian found it exhilarating! His guardian was talking with him, teaching him, showing him the hallways to his own inner soul; she was his everything.

But what he didn’t know was that she felt the same about him, and she was far from letting anyone take him from her…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday finally arrived. He tried hard to make the day last longer by eating breakfast slowly, going for a jog, doing homework, anything he could think of, but this seemed to make the day go by even faster.

That night Dr. Valerian helped Christian put on his tie, then he took a step back, “You look like a professional.” he said with a twinkle of pride in his eyes, “It’s a wonder they aren’t paying you for this.”

“I don’t think I’m that good…” said Christian as he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked at himself from head to toe in the new suit he had bought during the week with Dr. Valerian. His red tie was fairly predominant against his white shirt and black suit jacket. He buttoned the coat and turned to examine the back. Yeah, he did look pretty snazzy.

They both arrived at the school around six o’clock for early practice. Dr. Valerian took a seat off to the side as the group played together.

Christian was nervous because he would have to be front and center, but he still did well. That was until he had to do his solo.

Mr. Persia had decided to let every student play a small piece of Beethoven’s fifth symphony, having Christian go last and finish it off.

Christian’s hands began to shake as he waited for his turn. His vision even began to blur as he tried to focus on the music sheet in front of him.

As the flutist played her last note the room fell silent as they waited for Christian. At first they thought he was pausing for dramatic emphasis, but a minute later, they supposed otherwise.

“Christian,” coughed Mr. Persia, “it’s your turn.”

“Oh, sorry,” responded Christian, “I-I-I just… uhhh…” he stared harder at the notes, but he just couldn’t see them. _“It’s no good.”_ he thought to himself, _“I’m not as prepared as I thought I was… I should just bail out now before I make a fool of myself.”_

A large gust of wind caused the window in the back of the room burst open. The students quickly held down their music sheets as Mr. Persia hurried to close it shut again. Christian’s eye’s widened as he spotted a rose flutter across the ground. He bent down and picked it up. What was he doing? He’d practiced this song several times with his guardian. He didn’t need the music sheets; he knew this song by heart.

He tucked the flower into his lapel as he took position.

As the others struggled to recompose themselves, Christian closed his eyes and began to play. His classmates fell silent as he moved softly to the melody, but he was playing it differently. It was definitely recognizable as Beethoven’s symphony, but Christian had somehow tweaked it ever so slightly and it was good. It had a solemner approach, but it seemed to sing the song of his own heart.

When he was finished, he was surprised to hear the applause of his classmates.

“That was awesome!” said a violinist.

“A simple change,” smiled the boy with the triangle, “yet elegant.”

“It will be an awesome finale.” called out the clarinetist, “I can’t wait to see the audience’s reaction.”

A slight blush pinked Christian’s cheeks from all the compliments, “Th-thanks…”

They practiced until a quarter to seven, then made their way to the stage to take their positions. After all his classmate’s comments, Christian was finally feeling better. His hands were more steady, his vision clear, and he was ready to play his heart out to the crowd.


	5. Chapter 5

Was their performance newsworthy? Most would have been indecisive about that, but a passing news reporter was entranced by Christian’s performance. His versions of the songs were captivating; she couldn’t help but scribble down some minor ideas for her article as she sat in the audience.

“Kind of hot in here… I wonder why they don’t turn on the air conditioner. Surely I’m not the only one feeling stuffy in here… Felicia,” whispered her younger companion, “you’re supposed to be listening, not writing.”

“I know,” said the elder as she stared up at the stage, “but there is something about that lead cellist…”

They both stared harder at his face, being that they were far back in the crowd, they struggled to examine his facial structure.

“Who knew a school could have a huge auditorium!” Felicia chewed on her pencil. She looked down at her companion who was digging through her purse, “What are you looking for?” she asked.

“These,” she winked as she pulled binoculars out of the bag.

“And I thought it was pointless to bring those.” laughed the elder.

“You never know,” the other smirked as she peered through the binoculars, “I must say he is kind of cute…” she paused a moment, “it… it can’t be…”

“What can’t be?”

“Take a look!” she shoved the binoculars in front of Felicia’s eyes.

Felecia stared closely at the boy, “You don’t think…”

“Look around the bottom of the cello! Written in gold!”

Her eyes widened as she read the engraved letters shimmering in the spotlight. She turned to her friend, “I think you’re right.” she spoke softly, “That might just be…”

They both looked back at the stage as the music ended and the musicians took a bow.

 

Christian felt as if his heart would fly right out of his chest as he soaked in the applause, whistles, and even pleas for an encore performance. Their teacher directed them off stage and the principal thanked the audience for coming, and informed them that refreshments would be in the gymnasium.

Shouts of excitement finally escaped the young musicians mouths when they were out of earshot. They discussed amongst themselves on how they messed up once or twice, but thankfully no one seemed to notice. Or someone talked on how they lost their spot, or completely blanked out on what they were doing.

“I’m just hoping my parents didn’t notice.” giggled one girl.

“I know, right? Luckily, I wasn’t the one front and center.” said a boy, “Christian, if you had messed up, we’d _all_ be in the dog house.”

Mr. Persia rubbed Christian’s head, “You did well, Christian.” he said, “As did all of you. I’m sure your parents are immensely proud. How about you guys pack up your instruments and go get something to eat.”

They all agreed and packed up their gear, still discussing with each other the butterflies that were unsettled in their stomachs.

Christian smiled as he listened to them talking. He was glad it was all over, but part of him couldn’t wait until they did it again. He liked the rush of it all, and the response they got from the audience. (One which he was not entirely expecting.)

He smiled at the rose on his chest as he bent down to open his cello case. His classmates quickly exited the room as he carefully put away his instrument. The room was silent as he clicked the case closed.

“Quite a performance, I must say.”

Christian quickly stood and looked over to the speaker. His green eyes locked with her beautiful blue ones. They both were still as they stared into each other’s eyes.

“Ru-” Christian stuttered.

“Well, hello there, young cellist.” smiled an older girl as she entered the room. She held a notepad in her left hand and a pencil in the other, “How in the world have you been, Mr. Daaé?”

“Felicia…” he coughed to clear his throat, “I- I’ve been quite well. What about you two?”

“We’re doing quite well ourselves, thank you. I’m visiting a friend from college in this area, but she had to meet her parents for dinner, so Ruth and I decided to check out this school’s musical production. You can imagine our surprise when we saw _you_ on stage! We thought you lived back in-”

“I recently moved here,” finished Christian, “Dr. Valerian’s abilities were needed here, so I have but recently transferred to this school.”

“Wait, what about your mother?” asked Ruth.

Christian frowned, “She passed away over a year ago.”

The two girls fell silent, “I’m sorry to hear that, Christian.” said Felecia.

“Yeah, well, I live with Dr. Valerian now.” Christian picked up his cello case, “We don’t live far from here. But I thought you guys moved to another country.”

“We did,” said Ruth, “but Felecia’s newspaper sent her here to cover some events. We’ll be here for the rest of the school year. Our father and two brothers are back home. They got married while we were abroad and our father can’t escape from his work to be with us.”

“I see.” Christian looked down at his rose, “So can I help you guys with anything?” he looked at Felecia.

“Actually,” she replied anxiously, “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind me writing an article about you.”

Christian raised a brow, “Why?”

“You played so well, I thought I would write about this school’s performance.” she raised a finger, “It’ll get your name out there and may help promote the school.”

They waited in silence for his response.

The girls were beginning to believe he wasn’t going to say anything, when he finally spoke, “I’ll do it.”

Jitters shot through Felicia’s body, “Oh sweet! This’ll be great. Alright, so-”

“But not today.” finished Christian.

“Eh?” the sisters said in unison.

“If you’ll excuse me, we’ll have to plan it for another time.” he picked up his cello and walked towards the door.

“But I won’t be able to get your emotion, or other thoughts on the subject another day!” whined Felicia, “I want to get them now while they’re still pulsating through you!”

“I have a previous engagement which I must keep.” Christian looked over his shoulder with a stern look on his face, “We’ll talk tomorrow at noon. How about that?” before they could actually comment, he continued, “I’ll meet you here at the school, then I’ll show you the way to my house. For now, though,” he opened the door, “I bid you adieu.” the door gently closed behind him.

The sound of his footsteps was the last straw, “That punk!” Felicia stomped her foot, “Getting my hopes up like that, then have them crashing down?!” Ruth giggled at her sister’s antics, “Come on, Ruth, we’ll just go interview some of the other students for now.”

“You go on ahead,” smiled Ruth, “I’m in a stalking kind of mood…”

Felicia barely listened as she began scribbling something on her notepad, “Alright, but I don’t know what you’re planning on stocking… just get permission before you do it….” they left the room together, but while Felicia headed to the gym, Ruth went out to find Christian. She had to know what engagement he was in need of keeping when his legal guardian was still engulfed in mingling with other school members.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christian hardly noticed his pace quicken as he escaped the girls. Why was his heart racing so? Ruth’s face had haunted him for years, but now she was here, right in front of him, and he couldn’t calm his own emotions.

He found his way to the old music room. He needed to talk to his guardian and know what he was supposed to do now.

Ruth peered around the corner as he entered the wreckage, _“What is he doing in such a disheveled part of the school?”_ she thought to herself. Nevertheless, she silently followed behind him.

She almost tripped several times, but she tried her hardest to be unheard. Only once did Christian look back, but she quickly slid behind a wall out of sight. He scanned the room, then looked forward again.

He stopped in the music room, laid the cello case on the seat, then flicked on the lamp.

“ _He did that with hardly any light…”_ Ruth thought to herself, _“He must be quite familiar with this part of the school… but why?”_

Christian looked down at his cello and sighed, “I did it.” he said aloud, “I played my cello and well. I even had a reporter come ask if she could interview me. But…” Ruth leaned in closer, “but a childhood memory has decided to reappear in front of me… I- I don’t know what to do…”

Ruth’s jaw dropped. What was going on here? Was he telling the lamp about her? Surely she hadn’t meant to make him uncomfortable, but was he mentally insane?

She was considering revealing her presence to him, when a voice suddenly spoke, causing Ruth the jump a little. She didn’t see anyone else in the room, but it spoke clearly and Christian wasn’t surprised by its voice, yet rather relieved.

“She is an insolent girl,” said Christian’s guardian, “a slave of fashion in my opinion. I know her classes’ attitude towards people like you. It’s best if you block her out of your life as she blocked out you.”

Ruth was flabbergasted. What was this trickery? Her a slave of fashion? Really? Not only was this voice unrecognizable, but utterly rude!

Christian lowered his head and nodded, “You are probably right…” he replied, “but I did promise to do the interview. I thought it might please Dr. Valerian. Was I in the wrong?”

“No,” she said, “you did well and should be rewarded for your efforts. This is a matter of your reputation, not hers. Don’t let her bask in your glory.”

“I… guess you’re right.“ he brushed his hand across the cello case, “I suppose I was just weak, forgive me…” he rubbed the back of his head, “At times like this, I wish I could just see you face to face.”

The guardian chuckled, “And, for your reward, you shall.”

Ruth and Christian’s eyes grew wide as a large part of the wall moved aside, revealing a dancing red light that poured into the music room.

He carefully made his way to this room. It was filled with several different types of instruments, some of which he did not recognize. Even Ruth was able to glance around her wall to see this amazing room. All the equipment looked old, but well worn. But the thing that caught Christian’s eye the most was a giant mirror in the back of the room. He supposed that the students had used it to see how they looked to others when they played.

“Go ahead and look at yourself in the mirror…” the voice said hauntingly as Christian walked closer to it. “I am here inside.”

Christian was surprised when a caped figure, about his own height appeared in the mirror holding a torch in their right hand; the torch shown over the face of a masked figure.

“Come with me,” there was no doubt about it; this was the delicate voice of his tutor. She stretched her left hand towards him, “let me show you my world.”

Christian hesitated momentarily, but he took her hand. The guardian that his mother had sent him was finally showing herself. How could he pass up such an opportunity?

He stepped inside the mirror with her and the room was instantly changed. He was in a long hall with several torches lighting the way. Christian looked back, but his mentor tugged at his hand, leading him away.

Ruth hurriedly ran into the room and up to the mirror. She tried to walk through it, but only rammed into her own reflection. How had he so quickly disappeared right in front of her eyes?

Slowly, Christian and his mentor went deeper and deeper under ground. Where were they going? Christian couldn’t tell, but he didn’t care.


	6. Chapter 6

Ruth stared at the mirror in anger, “You spit him out right this second, you creepy mirror thing!” she had only seen Christian walk up to it, but then he vanished. What was he looking at so intently, anyway? It was as if he was hypnotized to walk towards it!

She rubbed her chin, “Don’t you dare try to eat me next.” she threatened, “I know how to defend myself. I’m an ace swordswoman!” this, apparently, didn’t convince the mirror of anything.

Anger began boiling within her. How was she supposed to explain that her friend disappeared in the abandoned part of the school, in a room that came out of another room… with a giant mirror in it… sounding more and more ridiculous as she thought about it. Yet, there was no use hanging out here, so she headed to the gymnasium to find Felicia. If this wasn’t a story to write about, she didn’t know what was.

Pulling out her cell phone, Ruth used it to light the way back. She didn’t know how, but she did get lost at one point and it took her a few minutes to get back on track. When she was finally back in the current school she began to map her way back to Felicia. While in the midst of mapping her way, a loud voice began to laugh through the speakers.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” scoffed Ruth, “You’re going to have to give him back sooner or later.” she spotted two eyes looking at her through the window.

She whipped out her phone and took a picture. When she looked back at the window, the eyes were gone. _“How does it move that quickly?”_ she thought to herself as she scanned her photo. The figure was blurry and… upside-down?

Ruth looked at the ceiling at the loose square. It wasn’t outside. It was right above her.

She snapped her phone closed and briskly glided down the hallways. It was obvious she wasn’t used to her surroundings, but that phantom must have memorized the whole structure and then some.

She spotted Felicia who was interviewing one of the saxophonists, “Felicia,” Ruth whispered when she got next to her.

“Almost done,” her sister mumbled back as she wrote down a few more notes. She looked up at the young musician, “Thank you so much for your time. You can expect this article to be in the newspaper in a few days.”

Smiling, the child walked away to mingle with the others.

“Felicia, this is important!” whined Ruth.

“Got a good scoop for my article?” Felicia asked teasingly.

“I’ve got something that will completely turn the article around and slap it on the butt!”

Normal people would have just laughed this comment off, but Felicia knew better. Ruth wouldn’t kid about her newspaper articles, “Ok,” she crossed her arms, “what’ve you got?”

“A phantom that is obsessed with the lead cellist.” she spat out with resentment, “It would even go as far as a kidnapping.”

Her sister raised an eyebrow, “What are you saying?”

“There is something in this school and it took Christian.” Ruth grabbed one of Felicia’s arms, “I’ll show you what I’m talking about, just follow me.”

Retracing her steps was a bit harder than anticipated, but it was accomplished. Felicia did get a little concerned when she was pulled through the old wreckage, but if it got her a major scoop, what were a few cobwebs in her hair?

Both of their cell phones illuminated the room as they entered. The room on it’s own was enough to intrigue Felicia, but where was this room with the giant mirror which Ruth spoke of on their way here? Gone. Try as she might, Ruth could not move the wall to reveal the second room.

“Now isn’t that just classic.” Ruth slammed her fist against the wall, “Cover up the evidence and make the heroine look like a liar.”

“What kind of story would it be without a little drama?” her sister teased, “But I’ll look into this little fiasco. See what others have to say about your secret mirror.”

“Please do; and quickly!” Ruth’s face became pale, “I’m afraid of what might happen to Christian…” Daaé

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christian stirred from his sleep. Why had he just fainted? _“Guess everything just caught up to me at once and… Erika…”_ that’s right. They were talking and she’d revealed her name to him, but she was still shrouded in mystery. Why was she living in the school and what was with that mask she wore? Could she be hiding from something?

He quickly sat up from his cushioned slumbering place, but he had to hold his head as it began to swim. Where was he? As his head began to return to normality, he realized he was in his own room. How had he gotten here?

His eyes soon locked on his window. Was that sunlight? It was the next day?

After a brief knock on the door, Dr. Valerian entered the room, “How are you feeling?” he asked softly.

“A bit dizzy, but horribly confused.” answered Christian bluntly.

“As are we all,” said the doctor shaking his head as he sat down, “Everyone was starting to head home and you were no where in sight. At first I thought you were probably just hanging out with some friends and had lost track of time, but when I started looking for you, you were no where to be found!”

Christian swallowed hard as vague memories of the night before danced in his mind. That dark dungeon where she lived, the art she collected, but most of all, that music she played. What kind of life had she known?

“I started considering calling the police,” the doctor continued, whether Christian was listening or not, “when I heard a small tap on the window next to me. As I looked out, I saw you lying on a bush right outside. An odd place to take a nap.” he raised an eyebrow angrily, “What were you thinking?”

Christian shook his head, “I don’t believe I was thinking at all.” he muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, nothing. So from there?”

A bit peeved, the Dr. Valerian continued, “After making sure that your vital signs were normal, I got some help bringing you home.”

“Help?” now it was Christian’s turn to raise a brow, “From whom?”

“I don’t believe I caught their names exactly, but I think the youngest was named Ruth.”

“Che-” he coughed, “of course it was…”


	7. Chapter 7

Ruth couldn’t stay away. She had to talk to Christian about what happened on Saturday, and what better place to find him then at school? And what was with the note she had found that night… she had thought Christian had dropped it when he fell in the bush, but it had her name on it.

Now the current problem was that she didn’t know where to find Christian. What classes did he take? At what times were they exactly? Guess the only option was to find out at the principals office. Wherever that was…

She was about to just walk in a random direction, which hopefully would lead somewhere, when she heard angry shouts.

Following the sound, it actually led to her desired destination.

Mr. Monchester and Mr. Richardson were trying to contain their shouts, but it was obvious by the look on the faces of passing students, that this goal was not working.

“Who would have the gall to send these?!” steamed Monchester.

Mr. Richardson shook his head, “It must be someone with a puerile brain…”

“So, suddenly our new student is so popular we are getting some sort of fan mail?”

“More than that, because this punk thinks we should pay him.”

“What’s this all about?” asked Ruth. For a young girl, she was always acting much older than her real age.

“Who are- Oh, you were that girl walking around with that reporter the other night, aren’t you?” asked Mr. Monchester, slightly put off at her interrupting them.

Ruth nodded her head, “Yes, yes, but putting that aside, what were you saying about notes?”

The two men looked at each other, then shook their heads. “What does our business have to do with you?” asked Arnold Monchester.

A bit hesitant, Ruth pulled her note out of pocket and handed it to the men.

Surprised at the similar handwriting on the envelope, Monchester quickly pulled the letter out, “‘Do not fear for Mr. Daaé,’” he read aloud, “‘his guardian of music will protect him. Make no attempt to see him again.’" Ruth cringed as he completed the note.

Mr. Richard’s eyes widened, “What nonsense is this?” he coughed, “What relationship do you even have with that boy?”

“Principal!” Carlos stomped into the room, “Someone gave me this hate mail! You need to read this.”

Mr. Richardson gulped as he opened this new letter, “‘Your days of being popular at the Garnier High School are numbered. Christian Daaé will be taking all of your coveted limelight. Be prepared for a great misfortune should you attempt to take his place.’”

“I have been going to this school since kindergarten,” protested Carlos, “I have been the lead violinist for years, and just because some stupid cellist comes in, and does just one show, I’m supposed to bow out like that?” he gnashed his teeth as he started tapping the floor with his right foot, “I don’t think so.”

“Seems like far too many notes for my taste.” Mr. Monchester scowled.

Mr. Richardson nodded, “Most of them about Christian… where is he anyway?”

“He’s resting at home.” they all turned to Dr. Valerian, “I thought it best he stay there, he needed his rest. He hasn’t been the same since the concert.”

“We’ve got a lot to talk to that boy about, sir!” protested Carlos, “When will he be back in school?”

Dr. Valerian shook his head, “I am a doctor of physical injuries, but there seems to be something troubling him in his mind.” shrugging his shoulders, he concluded, “A few days, but maybe next week.”

Arnold Monchester and Fredrick Richardson started whispering something to each other while Carlos grumpily exited the room.

Ruth looked up at Dr. Valerian, “Is it okay if I go and see him?”

“You?” the doctor pondered the question for a moment, “No, he will see no one.”

“But-” she tried to protest, but the doctor raised his hand to silence her. His decision was final. In silence she walked out of the room with him toward the exit.

Her eyes gazed after his car as he pulled out of the parking lot. Had she been anymore entranced in her disappointment, she would not have noticed the oddness that he turned in the opposite direction he had gone Saturday night. Did that mean he wasn’t going home? Was this her opportunity? Maybe it was, but should she take it?

She wrestled with her own emotions of following directions, but also the thought that she too had the right to figure out what was going on. Christian was going to have to suck it up, be a man and explain all of this to her… didn’t he?

Ruth dashed off. At the very least she had to see him for herself. She may have left him before, but her heart burned at the thought of losing him again.

Never had she been so glad for her sister’s stalking/stealthy reporter self as they had followed the doctor home on Saturday. Now all she had to do was retrace their steps to find the house. As she turned the corner, she almost fell face forward in her attempt to halt. There was Christian walking right toward her.

Without thinking (much), Ruth jumped into the bush next to her. Wasn’t Christian ill? What was he doing leaving his house? She eyed him as he crossed the street, but her gaze was quickly latched onto the item he carried.

With a muffled gasp, she whispered to herself, “Where is he going with his cello?”

She continued slinking in the shadows trying to avoid his vision. A spark of fear shot through her when she saw a bus pull up. Christian wasn’t actually going to… yes; yes he was going to get on…

Loosening up, she waited until he was onboard before she walked onto the bus. She was hoping that covering her face with her left hand and walking sideways would make her somehow invisible. It must have worked because she was able to just slide by Christian without him even wincing. Then again, he did look kind of spaced out. What was he thinking? Wait, what was she thinking? She just got on a bus without knowing where it was going! She should call Felicia to inform her of her accidental adventure…

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

How long had it really been? Christian shook his head as he walked onto the bus. He knew what he was going to do, he didn’t need to be ashamed of this venture. Though he did not enjoy using the doctor as an excuse, at least he wasn’t sneaking out without giving him any notice of it.

After the payment to the driver, he took a seat, gently leaning the cello against the window next to him. Sitting back on his bench, he pulled out his MP3 player. Sticking the headphone buds into his ears, he played a recording of the concert from the other night. As he listened, he felt as though it was him playing, but the chords weren’t his. Would that statement make sense to anyone else? _“No,”_ he chuckled weakly, _“I suppose not.”_


	8. Chapter 8

Really, where were they? They had been traveling for hours and still the bus kept on going. Ruth peered out the window, keeping her head low just incase Christian turned around. The whole trip he had kept his head forward, but you never know if he could suddenly have the desire to turn around and inspect the bus, right?

While thinking this, something pulled at her as she passed a small rundown barn. Why did it look so familiar? Then another landmark passed her eyes. Realization finally struck; she knew where they were going! The only question remaining was why?

As a graveyard came into sight, a shiver went down Ruth’s spine. She didn’t want to go into that place! You can imagine her absolute horror as Christian pulled the cord above his head to get the driver to stop. They had come all this way to end up here?! Not the day trip she was anticipating.

She waited until he exited the bus before she scurried to the front. The bus driver grabbed her arm before she could climb out, “You need to pay your fee.” he said firmly.

Fee? Her face paled. She hadn’t thought about the money!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christian slipped his MP3 player back into his pocket. Standing momentarily in front of the graveyard gate, he took a deep breath before entering. Part of him couldn’t believe he had actually come, but the other part had a hard time believing it took him so long.

Memories flooded his mind as he walked forward. Guilt for not realizing what he had until it was gone. Happiness for the time he did have. Fear of what he was to see. Joy for the opportunity to do it. Was this a stupid mix of emotions?

His feet moved on their own knowing instinctively where he was going. He’d come here several times many years ago, but now it felt eerily nostalgic. Then his feet stopped.

With watering eyes, Christian looked down at his mother’s grave.

“You kept your promise.” he whispered, “I got my guardian, but not exactly the way I thought I would… I don’t really know what to do about this whole situation. I feel as though this whole thing is just too strange, yet I hope it never goes away.” he knelt down and brushed the leaves away, “You have no idea how many times I wished you were here with me. Just once more, let me play for you.”

Ruth edged around the corner trying to stay out of sight. She watched Christian as he uncased his cello. He just wanted to spend some time with his mother. Why had she even followed him this far? She shook her head at her own shame, feeling as though she was eavesdropping on some important conversation. Ruth considered just leaving first, but as soon as that first note echoed through the air, she was hooked.

This must have been one of the first songs she had ever heard him play. Back then it was with ease and joy. Now her eyes watered as his did, each note bringing back one painful memory after another for him.

As a clock in the distance wrung twelve, a tear streaked down Christian’s face. Ruth prepared herself to stop him, but her body went stiff as a softer, deeper sound joined in. Was she hearing things? Someone else was playing the cello too!

This sound shocked Christian at first, but his mind became more at ease as he continued. But he didn’t play sweeter, he played harder and faster. Angrier. It was a pair of dueling cellos fighting in a normally quiet graveyard. Several strings broke on Christian’s bow as he played, but he had to finish. This needed to come to an end, and he was going to do it here and now.

Tears and sweat intertwined. All Ruth could do was stand and watch. She was glad when the song began to slow and Christian played the last few, stretched out notes. She wasn’t surprised at his panting as he stood there, letting everything sink in.

Turning on her heal, a thought had just popped into her head. With such echoing, where else would the other cellist hide except for in the church building, possible up in the bell tower. If she hurried, she’d be able to unravel this mystery. Besides, who else could have played along with him like that? She only knew of one; his stalker guardian.

She quickly swung the church doors open and switched on her flashlight. It seemed to be a pretty well preserved building from the outside, but the inside seemed to prove that it was just a rundown, abandoned structure. The design reminded her of some medieval castle, yet her mind stayed focused on finding the staircase that reached the tower. Standing in the middle of the room, she guided the light all the way around the room.

But her search ended abruptly with a blow to her head. Slowly blacking out, all she could remember were the swift footsteps of someone escaping out the back entrance.

“So… close…” Ruth thought.

 

Her head throbbed as she stood. With the moonbeams streaking into the window, it was obvious she had been out for hours. It was a bit of a struggle, but she managed to hobble her way over to the door, her head aching even more as the door squeaked loudly.

Her eyes widened as Ruth locked eyes with Felicia.

“There you are!” she yelped, wrapping her arms around her, “You have no idea how worried I was about you!”

“Errr, wait-” Ruth tried to speak, but Felicia was too angry to notice.

She held Ruth out at arms length, “First I get this text that you are on a bus with NO idea where you are going, and when I text you back I get no reply? How about when I called you a thousand times? Let’s just be glad I decided long ago to lock your cell phone with mine so I’d be able to track you down, like in such circumstances as this one. In the end, you were hanging out in a church in a graveyard?”

“What… would you stop shouting?” she rubbed her head, “I’m not ready for the yelling…” she twitched as her hand touched a large bump.

With a raised brow, Felecia pulled Ruth close to her to inspect her head. Using her phone, she lit of the injured spot, “How in the world did you get that?” she gasped, “We’ve got to put some ice on that ASAP. It’s all swollen and discolored…” she looked back at her sister’s face, “What have you been up to?”

“If you’ll help me to your car,” she began, “I’ll explain on the way back.”

With one arm over her shoulder, the sisters limped their way to Felicia’s car. Obviously on pins and needles to hear the whole story, Felicia refused to start the car until Ruth started her tale first. This was going to be a long, hard to believe trip.

 

Felicia shook her head as Ruth completed with her being knocked out, “Don’t you know any self defense?” she said disapprovingly, “Did you attend those sword classes for nothing?”

Feeling more awake then before, Ruth retorted with a, “Well it’s hard to defend yourself when you don’t even know that you’re going to be attacked, and I didn’t have a sword to use!”

This petty bickering was not going to get them anywhere.

After a few minutes of perplexing silence, Ruth turned to her sister, “What have you been doing all day anyway?”

“Besides looked for you?” she coughed angrily, though her back stiffened as she meekly replied, “I… did a little snooping.”

“Curious response…” the younger smirked, “what were you digging up?”

“The information you asked about.”

Ruth almost jumped out her chair, the seatbelt being the only thing keeping her down, “Are you serious?! What do you know?!”

“Don’t get your hopes up so easily.” Felicia scolded, “I didn’t get much, but it seemed a bit suspicious to me.” she leaned back as she cruised down the highway, “That section of the school was cared for by a high class music teacher. Now it was only a rumor, but there was word of this teacher becoming so attached to the school, that he made his own room to practice in. He collected many instruments and hid them in the wall of the school. A large mirror could have been used so he could observe himself playing, to see how others saw him.”

“Well, where is he now?”

Felicia shook her head again, “He was found half mad in that old music room. He even threatened to kill himself, but the cops were able to get to him in time before he could harm himself.”

“What would drive him to drop so low?”

“No one is quite sure, but he claimed that there was something going on in that mirror. He wouldn’t stop talking about it as they took him away.”

Ruth rubbed her head as she thought about that eerie room. “There definitely is something up with that thing… I have to go through it somehow.”

“Yeah, and what happens if you go crazy next?” her sister was angry, “Look, you and that Daaé kid had a cute relationship when you were younger, but now it’s time to let him go. He’s a boy that can take care of himself, right? You shouldn’t care so much.”

“But he doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into!” Ruth retorted, “What happens if he’s the next crazy victim? What if there is a crazy stalker murderer just waiting to maim him? He’s too grief stricken to even know when his life is in peril!”

Felicia quickly pulled the car to the side of the road, “What about your life?!” she screeched, “You may think that you can protect yourself, but you can’t! Didn’t that become painfully clear after what happened today?”

“I was caught off my guard.“ she looked her sister into the eyes, “It will _not_ happen again.”

The elder was about to say something more, but bit her lip. This girl wasn’t going to listen to reason. Getting the car back on the road, she made a decision that she was just going to have to watch her more closely to make sure nothing more happened. Whatever this thing was that she had gotten herself into, it was not going to blow over quickly or easily.

While Felicia thought of her sister’s safety, all Ruth could think about was Christian’s.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Staring at his bathroom mirror, recent memories flooded into his head. What was that cello that played along side him? Had he just thought it up? No, his guardian had said she was going to be there.

He splashed some water onto his face. Yes, that conversation they had when he was downstairs in that basement. What was with their mysterious trip down there? Arms holding lights? Was his mind really playing tricks on him, or was there a point where a horse showed up? But that couldn’t have happened because they went on a boat.

“Ugh,” he sat on his bed as he rubbed his temples, “straight to the loony bin for you, huh?” he looked at the ceiling as he laid back on his bed. Then again, the images were far too vivid for him to have just made them up.

Putting that aside, his thoughts continued to when his guardian threw her voice around. How was she able to make inanimate objects talk? She must be some sort of ventriloquist. A person of many talents, as she also knew how to play the piano. What else could she play? And what was that unfamiliar melody she was playing? It was so mellow and… incomplete. She really seemed to be struggling with it. Why did he care so much about her? What about that mask she wore? How he had wanted to take it off so desperately and how she wailed at him after he did. He was so selfish and conceited… then his memories became hazy.

She showed him something behind curtains. A model of himself wearing a tuxedo? Should this have freaked him out? Well, it did. He reddened as he remembered fainting as she approached him.

A puzzled look came over his face, “Wait…” he remembered. Wasn’t she holding something in her hand, a cloth that he smelt… had he been drugged?


	9. Chapter 9

Now it was time for the school’s infamous Masquerade Ball. Mr. Monchester and Mr. Richardson couldn’t help patting themselves on the back, going on about how marvelous the event was. Normally this kind of ball would have been held around New Years, but with a news reporter in the area, why not take advantage of such a situation? Now it was going to be held on October 31st.

Students were all a flutter in trying to decide their costumes. Who wanted to treat the affair like a big Halloween party, who wanted to dress in fancy outfits with mysterious masks, then the ones who were just going to wear whatever their mothers laid out for them.

Ever since the graveyard, Ruth seemed to cling to Christian like an obsessed fan girl. Why was she allowed to play such a childish role without being questioned? Because of her sister’s job, that’s why. The principal made up an excuse, such as she was just observing the lifestyle of the students. When, in all honesty, he just wanted her to relay a good report to her sister. It had been a whole two weeks already and only a few times had he been able to escape her. But it concerned her that everyday he would look paler than he had the day before. What was he doing in secret?

As for her outfit, she coordinated with Christian to wear similar cloaks and eye masks. How could he refuse her pestilence? Part of him wanted to refuse, but the memories of their past kept going through his mind. The emotional attachment he had for her then, and this odd attraction he had for her now… but this wasn’t going to do. He had plans that he needed to follow through with. He would have to end this relationship at the ball.

At the event, Ruth stood alone. Who knew it would be so hard to find someone through this herd of young people? Some assuming she was someone she wasn’t. Others trying to peel off her disguise, but she would give them her glare of anger, which was fairly difficult to do as she felt ridiculous.

She was wondering if she should try fighting through the mob to find Christian, when a fellow domino crossed her path, briefly squeezing her fingers as he passed. This seemed to be a signal.

“Is that you?” she tried to whisper.

The figure put a finger to his lips to imply silence. What was he up to? Where were they going?

As they passed by one room, she couldn’t help but notice a small group which had gathered around something. Or was it a someone?

The person was dressed all in scarlet, with a huge hat and feathers on the top of a face that looked of death itself. (How poetic of her!) From their shoulders hung an immense red-velvet cloak, which trailed along the floor like a kid’s train; and on this cloak was embroidered in gold letters, which every one read and repeated aloud, "Don't touch me! I am Red Death stalking abroad!"

Her interest was peaked even more when someone tried to show off by reaching out to actually touch this capped wonder, but a skeleton hand shot out of a crimson sleeve and violently seized their wrist; and he, feeling the clutch of the knucklebones, the furious grasp of Death, uttered a cry of pain and terror. When Red Death released him at last, he ran away screaming in a tone that would embarrass even the smallest of girls. All the other bystanders could do was laugh at his disgrace.

“What is up with that?” asked Ruth, giggling a little as she spoke.

Her companion pulled on her wrist harder and covered her mouth as he pulled her along. Was she not supposed to speak now? It wasn’t her fault he was being all mysterious without explaining a single thing!

They both made their way up the stairs, with the black domino constantly looked back every few minutes, his face looking more horrified every time. Were they being followed? Did it matter if they were?

Right before they reached the steps to the roof, the both huddled into the room to the right.

Ruth pulled off her mask, beckoning Christian to do the same, but he ignored her as he listened carefully through the door.

“It seems that she may have continued on.” he finally spoke. He cracked the door open and peered through it.

Ruth was able to see a little herself. Was that a red shoe? Were they being stalked by that death guy? “Do you want me to go have a word with that guy, or something?” she laughed, “Just move to the side and I’ll handle him.”

Christian slammed the door and looked back at her, “You will do no such thing.”

Obviously taken aback, Ruth stuttered trying to reply, “Why not? I’m not afraid of someone who thinks they can just strike fear into people as he wills it.”

“You don’t understand the position you’re in right now, do you?” Christian leaned up against the door. It was clear that he was going to use all his strength to make sure she did not leave that room.

“No, you don’t understand!” why was she becoming so furious? She didn’t even understand her own feelings as she continued, “You may be running from your own emotions, and be such a weakling who no one would even dare call a man, but I on the other hand can protect myself. What, is that the _thing_ that you constantly run to? There must be some trick she is using to entrance you. Is she planning on doing something to you?”

“I don’t care what she does to me,” Christian pulled off his mask revealing the overcast look of fear and resentment that shadowed his face, “It’s all tragedy!”

Ruth tried to swallow, but immediately started to regret her harsh words.

“Everywhere I go, anything I do, anyone I meet; there is nothing I can do to free myself! I am one who has ensnared myself into something much larger than any of us can understand now.” he looked at his own hands in desperation, “I am trying to find my own strength to control what is still left of me…”

“Christian,” Ruth reached out to him, “I… didn’t mean it. Forgive me?”

He placed his mask back on his face, “Maybe someday, perhaps.” he opened the door and stepped out. Ruth thought to follow behind, but with a quick gesture he froze her to the spot.

With a swish of his cape, Christian disappeared down the stairs, leaving Ruth speechless.

It felt like years before Ruth thought it would be okay to leave the room. Christian wanted to be left alone. Her purpose must have been met. She just wanted to go home; staying here was fruitless.

She swung the door open and marched down the stairs. The goal was the exit. At least, it was supposed to be. Ruth clenched her fists as a realization came over her. All this time, she has had a home to go back to. A sister, father, a bunch of brothers and sisters-in-law; Christian had his mother, but she’s now gone. He was left to live with the doctor that was at his mother’s deathbed? He moved into this new town where there was only one person who got to know him. And here she is, out of the blue, trying to pull him away from that one companion whom he could share a mutual bond?

Her eyes widened. No; someone who tricked him into thinking he could open up. He needed an exit and, instead of being the help he needed, she was becoming a hindrance who only mocked him.

She turned on her heels to go back. No matter what happened, she was going to have to stick with him through it all.

Easier said than done. Yet again, she couldn’t find him anywhere. You wouldn’t think that a boy like that could just disappear into the crowd. Had he gone home already? She searched room after room, but there was no sign of him.

Flipping her cell phone open, she frowned as she noticed the time, “What school allows children to stay here until two in the morning?” she snapped it closed in spite. There was only one room left to check.

It wasn’t hard to stay unnoticed, for everyone was preoccupied with their own amusements. She walked down the halls with an air of determination. Using her cell phone to navigate through the darkness again, she made her way to the old music room. She looked around the room in complete disbelief. He wasn’t here either. She thought of turning back when she heard steps coming closer. What if it was a teacher?

Looking around the room desperately, she frowned bitterly as she ducked under the small couch in the middle of the room.

She almost breathed out a sigh of relief when she realized it was Christian, but he seemed to be a bit of a panic. He pulled off his cape and threw it onto the couch. He carried papers in his hand. Kneeling next to the table, he used his phone to light the papers as he neatly, swiftly wrote whatever it was on at least four sheets of this paper. All he kept mumbling was, “Poor Erika. Poor Erika.”

Who was this Erika? And why should she be pitied at such a time as this? Ruth wondered if she should reveal her hiding place, when a deep hum echoed through the air. It seemed to stiffen both of their bodies.

Christian folded his papers and tucked them away in one of his pockets.

Yet again, the wall slid to the side. A gentle, inviting light poured into the music room.

Ruth quickly pulled out her cell phone to snap a picture for Felicia, when she noticed Christian walking towards it. Was he some kind of bug just unwittingly heading towards the light that would lead to his own death?

She scooted out from underneath the couch, “Christian, wait!” she tried to warn, but he must not have heard her. She really began to panic as he disappeared around the corner.

“Christian!” she screamed as she followed after him, but she was pushed back by some force. She rubbed her head as she found herself looking at several Christians, all standing there, mocking her. What was going on?!

When she regained whatever wits she had left, she noticed Christian was gone once more. Yet again he had slipped right through her fingers! She kicked the one last remaining mirror, but it too seemed to mock her as she fell backwards. She looked at the reflection of her own dumb face.

She shook her head as tears ran down her cheeks, “Christian… what are you thinking?” she murmured.


	10. Chapter 10

Ruth still wasn’t quite sure how to break the news to the doctor. His adopted son had run away with a ghost that lurked the walls of the school. Their portal of escape? A hidden mirror room that no one could reveal except the creature itself. Who wouldn’t buy a story like that?

“Anyone with common sense.” Ruth scoffed at herself as she rang the doorbell. Hopefully he had a few screws loose? One could only hope.

“Yes?” came a Dr. Valerian’s cheerful voice as he opened the door.

With a look of dread, Ruth said, “I need to talk to you about… Christian… do you mind letting me in?”

“Sure,” he held the door open for her. “You look quite pale, child. Did you get enough sleep last night?” he led her into the living room.

“No, sir. I wasn’t able to sleep because of the information I -” Ruth’s jaw dropped as she looked at Christian sitting on the couch, with a book resting on his lap.

Equally shocked, yet keeping his composure, he smiled at her, “Why, what an unexpected guest.” his voice sounded as if the conversation they had the night before was inexistent.

“But I thought that… I saw you and the light…” she fumbled to find the right words.

Christian’s eyes widened as he started to understand. He snapped his book shut and quickly stood to his feet, “Would you like me to get you something to drink?” he asked.

She would have continued her previous trail of thought, had he not grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the room with him.

“You need not bring such stories into this house.” Christian warned quite sternly. “The doctor may seem like a very healthy man, but the stress of my current situation should never be fully revealed to him.” he rubbed his chin, “I don’t need to cause him anymore trouble.”

Ruth’s befuddled expression seemed to shock Christian, “So you mean to tell me you intend on facing this whole thing on your own?”

Straightening his back, he answered, “I am my own person and I don’t need to report to anyone else. Unless it was my wife…” Ruth’s face reddened a little, but Christian covered his tracks by saying, “But I don’t intend to ever be married.” he turned to return to the living room.

“But you’re too young to say such things…” it was then that Ruth spied the gold band around his ring finger. She couldn’t stop herself from gasping loudly. Christian spun around to see her terrified expression. “She has already chained you.” she whispered.

He stuffed his hand into his pocket, “It was just a gift…” he couldn’t look Ruth in the face as he said this.

“What are you two talking about out there?” the doctor creaked the door open.

“Oh, nothing!” smiled Christian, trying to quickly return the air to its previously chipper feeling.

“But the lady told me she had something she needed to discuss with me.” Dr. Valerian looked at Ruth, “I’m all ears, if you care to explain now.”

“I’m sure she must have been mistaken-” Christian continued to push aside the subject, but was interrupted.

“Yes,” she smirked, “you must be aware of your protégé’s tutor in his relearning of his instrument.”

Christian’s face paled as she spoke. What was her angle?

“I do know a little of the matter,” answered the doctor, “but Christian doesn’t talk about it much. Just that he’s been staying after school for a while now to get some help. Should I be concerned about his tutor?”

“Very much so, sir! She is quite a sneaky person who seeks to gobble him right up.”

Dr. Valerian turned to Christian, “How could you not tell me of such things? Did you not think it important for me to know?”

“She talks of absolute nonsense, doctor.” he put a hand on the older gentleman’s shoulder, “I assure you that I am safe. If I were attacked, don’t you think such things would have already happened to me?” he sat his elder down on the couch.

“It might explain the reason you came home so late last night.” he protested.

“Just a teenager’s inability to keep track of time.” he said with a gentle smile, “Please trust me more.”

Dr. Valerian clenched his fists, but did soften after a moment of silence, “I generally do, but this girl has ruffled my feathers, so to speak.”

“I-” Ruth was about to defend herself, but Christian’s sharp turn towards her made her jump a little.

“Yes,” Christian walked towards her, “Miss Chagny really must learn that it is not good to tell falsehoods. Give me a minute as I walk her to the door.”

There wasn’t a chance for any argument as Christian pretty much pushed her out of the room. He opened the front door and walked out onto the front step with her.

“You really know how to ruin a second chance.” he scolded.

“And you know how to put up a front before your caretaker!” she retorted.

“I’ve already explained enough to you!”

“Then let me help you!” she almost screamed, “You can’t do this alone, and I don’t want you to either. Just put a little faith in me.”

“Why?” Christian slipped in coolly.

“Because I care about you!” she slapped her hands over her mouth as her face reddened. “As… as a friend… you know…” she tried to recover, but the unchanged expression on Christian’s face proved that he wasn’t buying it.

“Ruth…” he clenched his fist, “you’re in danger.”

Not exactly the response she was expecting, “How do you mean?” she pestered.

“You can’t hang around me anymore.” the words seemed to slip past his lips with a bitter taste, “Go home to your father. There is nothing for you here.”

“I don’t understand.”

Christian opened his door. Stepping in, he whispered, “After this next performance, you will see me no more.” looking right into her eyes, he completed with, “Goodbye, Ruth Chagny.” and gently shut the door.

“What in the world is that supposed to mean?!” she kicked the door furiously, “You think that you can end our conversation on such a mysterious note? I think not, you…” she punched the door, “You _idiot_!”

She turned harshly and snapped her cell open. Quickly she punched some numbers as she walked down the walkway, “Felicia?” she steamed into the phone, “Make sure to pick up a _lot_ of chocolate on your way back today!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christian peered through the window in silence as he watched Ruth walk away.

“What a very angry girl.” laughed the doctor as he wiped sweat from his brow with his handkerchief. “I was sure she was going to break down our door!”

“I’m sure she could have…” Christian turned away from the window, “So what would you like to have for dinner?”

“Whatever you want is fine. I actually should head to the hospital now. I’ve got some work to complete.” he noticed the odd look on Christian’s face, “Is something wrong? Are you feeling feverish?”

“Oh, no; I’m fine.” he smiled, “I think I’ll actually head to my room and practice a bit for the upcoming performance.”

“Your school is having another concert so soon?”

“Well it is a school of music. Guess this sort of thing should be expected.” he started walking away.

“Are you really okay?” the doctor called after him.

There was no response. All the doctor could think of was puberty. He was a young boy after all. Maybe he just needed some time alone. Or maybe he was still recovering from visiting his mother. He had acted rather strangely after returning home that day. Dr. Valerian snatched up his coat and hat then slipped out the door.

Christian listened to the door close. The thought that he only had a few more days to stay in this house created a burning feeling in his chest. He was finally realizing that maybe he liked this new life he had acquired. Yet there was someone he now needed to show compassion towards.

He looked towards his cello, “I’m prepared to take measures into my own hands.” he spoke, “I will help you crawl out of the pit you have dug for yourself, Erika.”


	11. Chapter 11

A few days later, the whole school was in a rampage as students ran around frantically. Why had the principals suddenly decided to have a surprise concert? Were they really threatened to do such a thing? And what was with them walking around backwards all over the place? The concert was tonight and the adults were just playing around! Nobody seemed to understand, but the principals’ behavior wasn’t the scariest.

“Hey, you!” Carlos walked up to Ruth as Peggy clung to his sleeve, “You’re that reporter’s sister, right?” he smiled broadly, his usual technique to make the female teachers melt, “How about your sister writing an article about me? I’ve been playing the violin since I was just a small tike.”

“It’s true!” said Peggy excitedly, “Carlos told me so himself, and now he’s telling you!”

“Hush now, Peggy.” he silenced her, “Now, back to business-”

The two imbeciles paled and froze in their tracks as they noticed the menacing look on Ruth’s face. “I’m a bit busy, at the moment.” she hissed. Swinging an axe up onto her shoulder, she finished their “business” meeting.

As Carlos and Peggy ran away screaming, Ruth continued on her quest. A revelation had come over her the night before. She could forcefully find that secret room if she cut into it.

“Hold your horses there, young lady.” said a tall, tan man, “You can’t go around destroying school property.”

“It’s just the abandoned part of the school,” she scoffed, feeling her sanity slipping away. Maybe she had overdone it with the chocolate. She pushed past him.

“Wait,” he grabbed her shoulder, “what part of the abandoned school?”

“The music room.” slightly shocked at his quick reaction.

“You shouldn’t hang out in a place like that.” he spoke sternly, “There are rumors of a ghost stalking that place.”

“Ghost? Hah! More like a conniving puppet master. Now release me, sir.”

He slowly raised his hand, “Have you seen her?”

Ruth spun around, “Her?” she grabbed his collar with her free hand, “What do you know?”

“A little.” he peeled her hand off, “What is your business with the matter?”

“My childhood friend is about to be ensnared into her trap. If you know something,” she waved her axe in a threatening manner, “you had better tell me.”

The vent above them seemed to pop.

“Not here, you fool.” he grabbed her wrist, “Follow me.”

They quickly made their way to the fire escape. Why was this guy in such a rush?

As they reached the edge of the parking lot, Ruth pulled her hand away, “Not a step further until you tell me who you are.” she scowled.

The man took a look around, “I’m… Mr. Persia, Christian’s music teacher.”

“And that somehow gives you knowledge on the monster?”

“She’s not a monster!” he huffed, “Please… can we go sit over by that tree?”

Ruth was hesitant, but as long as they were still in broad daylight where she could scream for help, then it would be okay.

“Where to begin…” started the man.

“Anywhere would be nice.” Ruth laid the axe next to her.

“How about back in my homeland?”

“Where exactly is that?”

“A far away land.” he smiled, “I think my name is kind of a big giveaway, don’t you?”

“Thought I’d ask anyway.”

He rolled his eyes, “Kids these days… anyway; I met Erika about ten years ago.”

“So that’s the thing’s name.” growled Ruth.

“Will you hush so I can tell my long and sad story?!”

“…Sorry…”

“Honestly! It’s hard to create a mood when someone keeps being interrupted!”

“Okay, I’ll stop! Sheesh!”

“Thank you.” he cleared his throat, “When I met her she was still such a little girl, but being abused only because of her skill. Even though she was so small, she was an ingenious architect, if you can believe it. She would have been famous for her designs had it not been for her birth deformity.”

“Deformity?” repeated Ruth.

Mr. Persia glared at her, “Really?”

Ruth pretended to zip her lips shut and handed him the invisible key.

He tucked it into his chest pocket, “Yes. She was born with a face that was so disastrous that her own mother disowned her. Left her for dead, forced to wear a mask over her face, and later to be sold as a slave. It was during her captivity when I met her. I was one of the tutors for the family. Even though she could draw designs like a pro, I could tell that her true passion lied in her love of music. She could play the flute like nobody’s business!”

“Mmerg mmdr hmm?” asked Ruth.

“Sure she can. She is amazingly packed full of talent. Whatever instrument you gave her she would be able to play it almost immediately. The thing was, though, that she didn’t know any songs except the ones she might have heard the other servants singing around the palace.”

“Mmmm??”

“I must have skipped that part… she was a slave of the prince of the land. He even forced her to build a torture chamber for him to use for amusement. An obviously spoiled child… but the last straw was when the chamber was completed. The prince decided that he never wanted her to design something like that for anyone else, so he was going to use the very thing she built against her.”

“…” Ruth shook her head in disgust.

“Of course I couldn’t let her die in such a way! So I took her away from there. We had to get far away, so we joined the circus…” a vain pulsed on his forehead as she started to make a funny noise, “Don’t laugh at that!”

“Mhmm…” she rolled her eyes.

“Because of this circus that we traveled with for a year she learned to become very good at gymnastics, sword throwing, and tight rope walking; but in secret she still continued playing her music. It was obvious that she still was not happy. She didn’t like her face being the center of attention. She needed a place of her own, so we split. I heard of a school of music and a light bulb went off in my head, so we ended up here. Or, at least, what used to be here.”

Ruth looked at him with a face that seemed to say, ‘What did you do?’

“Broke in.” he whispered, “But apparently someone else had started doing the same. Erika and I watched him in secret as he exited his secret mirror room. I could see her eyes twinkle as she spotted all of those instruments. We waited and when he left, we moved in.”

Mr. Persia shook his head, “I still remember moving that large mirror, cutting down the wood behind it and walking through the walls of that school… you know, it took us several nights to complete our venture. Together, alone, she didn’t need to wear that mask in front of me. I was finally able to see her smile. For once she was doing what she wanted to, getting a place she could call her own. Why hadn’t I just bought a house? It would have stopped the next disaster.” he rubbed his head, “You know, I had just went out for a minute to get some dinner when that guy came back? Erika just thought I had returned and came to greet me, when that man saw her. I was walking up the stairs when I heard his screams.”

Ruth held out her hand. Mr. Persia reluctantly handed her back the key.

She unzipped her mouth, “So you were the one who called the police?” she asked.

He nodded, “I played it off that the man was crazy. Seeing faces in a mirror? Completely ridiculous. When the tensions settled down, I got a sliding one way mirror to go behind the first.”

“So, if you are so chummy with this girl, why don’t you try to explain to her that kidnapping is a crime?”

“Because I left her.” Ruth’s heart swelled at these words, “I left her to return home on a summons. I had to go back and try to explain my position to the country. This actually ended up imprisoning me for crimes against the crown. It wasn’t that I wanted to, but I was forced to leave her alone for years.”

This part Ruth could relate with.

“Only recently did I serve enough time, but I have been exiled from my home.”

“Why would you go through so much for her?” asked Ruth.

“Because I care about her.” he smiled.

Ruth’s head began to swim.

“But she’s changed.” Ruth looked at Mr. Persia as he said this.

“What do you mean?” she inquired.

“She’s become cold once more. I became a teacher here so things could go back to how they used to be. When I went to see her after being hired, she did not respond to my calls. It wasn’t until after the event with the pillar falling on top of that Carlos child before I was able to speak with her. I actually shamelessly made my way through the vents. Vent number five is very convenient.”

“Where is that located?”

“The auditorium. I don’t know how, but she’s somehow been able to keep vent five closed for her use. It seems that the owners who used to run this school actually obeyed her commands. These new ones haven’t actually realized their position yet, and how dangerous she actually can be.”

“Well what happened when you got to her hiding spot?”

“I… almost drowned.”

Ruth looked at him in disbelief, “A big guy like you doesn’t know how to swim?”

“It wasn’t like that! As I tried to reach her platform via boat, for she surrounds herself with water, the room became dark and I was pulled from my seat and dragged under. I thought for sure I had seen the last of the sunlight, when I was finally pulled to the surface. As I tried to catch my breath, my eyes spied her standing above me. She again wears a mask, but her eyes are a window to her darkened heart.”

“Did she kill you?”

Mr. Persia looked at her, “Yep, I’m dead.” he slapped her upside the head, “Of course not!”

“She seemed to try to kill you before.” Ruth rubbed her head.

“It was in defense. She did not realize it was me.” he shook his head, “Though I wished just my presence could change her heart around, it obviously didn’t. She demanded to know why I was there, so I told her of my disapproval on such pranks that hurt people.”

“Let me guess…”

“She didn’t care to hear my opinion.”

“That was a no brainer.”

“Says a girl who tried to do the same.”

Ruth turned to him sharply, “What?”

“Just an observation… Erika is not the only one who can stalk the shadows.”

Ruth stood, “I’m done with this conversation.” she grabbed her axe.

“I want to help you stop her.” Mr. Persia looked up at her, but she couldn’t respond out of shock. “These pranks are going too far and I’m not afraid for just her anymore, but for the whole school.” he put his hand out towards her, “I can be your guide.”

Ruth stared at his hand, “My rules?”

“As long as they’re reasonable enough.”

“Che…” she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, “we strike back tonight.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To anyone keeping up with this series, I formally apologize for the late update! Because of my blunder, I will post two chapter in one day and hope to get back to weekly posting for the rest of the book.   
> Thank you to all reading and I hope you're enjoying this retell of an amazing tale!

With the principals acting all mysterious, it was easy for Mr. Persia and Ruth to go about their own plans. One of the biggest being to turn vent five back on. With her major station out of use, that minimized the directions she could come from. They also made sure to assign the front seats to some of the parents who were police officers.

But what they didn’t realize was that they were not the only ones planning. A dark caped figure was crouching in the rafters, watching carefully over their actions. “Meddlesome…” it murmured as it stalked back to its original dwelling.

Ruth was sure that no matter what that phantom threw at them, she was prepared to block it. She looked up and noticed a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

“What is that?” she asked aloud, hoping anyone passing by would answer.

It worked, “It was apparently suggested for the event.” answered a boy, “It’s supposed to help with the mood, or something. There used to be one here years ago, but we just put up this fake plastic one for tonight’s event. I think the official theme is, ‘The Last Triumph’, or something.”

“That was a lot more information than I was expecting to get.” Ruth raised a brow.

The boy blushed a little, “Sorry… I get excited about these kinds of things…”

“Very well;” she waved him on, “you are free to go about your business.” she rubbed her chin as he walked away, _‘Trust me, Erika; this shall be my triumph over you!”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The other musicians moaned in unison as Christian’s fingers slipped yet again. He really was trying to play correctly, but a sense of vigor had been lost within him. Depression seemed to be closing in around him like it was before. His musical guardian was telling him to embrace this darkness, while others were trying to pull him away from it. With all of this stress going through his mind, he just couldn’t keep his focus.

“Mr. Daaé, I think you should take a little break.” said Mr. Persia gently.

Christian sighed before answering, “Maybe… just a quick one…” he laid his cello on its side and slowly took his leave of the room.

As the door closed behind him, Carlos spoke up, “I still don’t understand why I can’t play the lead violinist!” he wailed, “My wrist is all healed and everything. Why are the principals treating me this way?”

“Yeah!” Peggy tried to chime in.

“Oh be quiet, Peggy!” he snapped sternly, “You’re going to come in as the surprise mystery violinist. You even get a costume and everything!”

She shrunk down into her seat.

“This was the way they decided to do it.” Shrugged their teacher, “I don’t exactly understand everything either.”

But this was a falsehood. Earlier, while prepping things with Ruth, Mr. Persia had stopped by the office and heard a suspicious conversation.

“Can you believe this?” laughed Mr. Monchester nervously, “Demanding us to hold a sudden concert out of the blue! Hah… what ridiculousness! And to also tell us to not even attend?”

“It is all quite strange.” agreed Mr. Richardson as he scanned the room nervously, “But the person seemed to be quite serious about this… Remember what the note said?”

“This thing?” Mr. Monchester raised the strip of paper, “Yes, this stupid note. Even ending it by saying, ‘Should these commands be ignored, a disaster beyond your imagination will occur.’ Hah! I almost have a mind to burn it!” he pulled out a lighter, but his hands were shaking anxiously. “But then again…”

Mr. Persia shook his head as he left the two to their own devices. He was starting to wonder if he was in over his head.

“Teacher!” Carlos cut in, ruining Mr. Persia’s reminiscing, “Are we going to practice or not?”

“Yes, yes… Alright everyone! At the top!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christian rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to cool his head, “Just calm down…” he mumbled to himself.

“You seem a bit pale.” he turned to see Ruth leaning up against the wall to his right, “Have you gotten enough sunlight? Or do you prefer the night now?”

“I told you not to talk to me.” he tried to walk passed her.

“Christian…” she stammered quickly, “Christian, don’t think that I don’t care! But every hope, and every prayer rests on you now.”

He looked back at her, “What do you mean by that?”

“I just want you to enjoy your performance tonight.” she smiled, “Don’t think of anything else but the time we spent together those many years ago. Right, little laddie?”

“You really aren’t making much sense right now.” he stated bluntly.

“I’d tell you,” she lifted her head in a puff, “but I’m not supposed to talk to you.”

“You already broke that rule…” said Christian, but she stayed silent. What kind of messed up logic was she trying to impose on him? He couldn’t help stare as she walked away. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. He turned to return to the class, but stopped as he spotted a rose sitting on the floor in front of him. Picking it up gently, a twinge of fear struck through his body once more. Or was it…

He looked at his fingers on his left hand as blood slowly trickled down his hand. Though the rose was admirable, the truth was that it was still dangerous. Clenching his right fist, he marched back to the classroom. Time for another round.

As he disappeared down the hallway, the dark figure emerged once more. It stood in a sad silence before looking at the window beside it. Touching the reflection of this masked creature seemed to cause pain. Why were people always being taken away?

With a quick punch, the window shattered and fell to the ground outside, “Not this time.” it said while stepping onto the window sill. It pushed a secret square ceiling piece to the side and pulled its body into the crawlspace.


	13. Chapter 13

Looking across the large audience, the students tried to keep their calm. They’d done this just recently, so how could it be so hard to do it again? Maybe it was because some were still unsure of their lead musician.

Christian sat with a blank look on his face. His cello rested neatly on his chest as he waited for the concert to begin.

As the room fell dark, the audience went into a hushed silence. The chandelier above them seemed to adequately light up the room with a soft, mysterious glow. It was surprisingly elegant for a fake chandelier lit with light bulbs.

With a few brisk taps to his music stand, the conductor began to direct his musicians.

Ruth and Mr. Persia sat in the front row to the far right. Apparently it has also been in the instructions for him not to lead his own class.

“I wonder where Felicia is…” she looked down at the empty seat beside her.

“Maybe she’s chatting with the scardy-cat principals…” he paused as Ruth nodded in agreement, “Miss Chagny, if it comes down to it,” whispered Mr. Persia as he quickly grasped Ruth’s arm, “remember to keep your hand at the level of your eyes.” he demonstrated using his own arm as well.

“Is that supposed to be some sort of metaphor?” she asked sarcastically.

“No;” he released her, “just something that might help you stay alive.”

The loud thrum of the cello made Ruth’s heart start to race.

Christian played the first note with a slow motion, almost as if to reach out and grab all of the audience’s attention. It must have worked, because it was obvious that all eyes were on Christian’s gentle movements.

But this smooth and slow melody quickly changed as the other students behind him started playing faster. Now it was Christian’s turn to jump in with their speed. His fingers glided swiftly up and down the chords.

Ruth half stood when she noticed blood slowly trickling down the strings.

“Can you hear the story the song is telling?” asked Mr. Persia.

“A story?” she kept her eyes focused on Christian. Though he was obviously injured, he still played with a composed look on his face.

He nodded , “It’s a tale of a boy who falls in love.”

“Eh? You somehow pulled that out of nowhere?”

“No; this is a song I once heard in my country.” Ruth turned to him with a lump in her throat as he continued, “While the beginning is slow and tells of a sad upbringing, it continues into a faster beat to show the fight he had to put up to get through life. But right at the precipice of his sorrow, in enters his rescuer.”

The backup players hushed, leaving the cello to play its sad notes alone. The cello even began to become silent, signifying an ending.

Christian was struggling to keep tears from pouring down his face. Why was he getting so emotionally attached to this song? Why… why…?

A light cheerier note was suddenly heard from offstage.

Christian looked over as a masked girl stepped onto the stage. Peggy really did look as though she took her role quite seriously. Her melody was pleasing to the ear, and seemed to make promises of healing for the sad, desolate boy in the tale.

“This is the part where he realizes that, even though pain is felt,” Mr. Persia explained, “compassion can be found.” he smiled, “It really is a beautiful beginning to-”

The violin suddenly screeched harshly. Everyone was still as the girl stood motionless. Had she just done that… on purpose?

Taking back up her violin, she no longer played a pleasant sound. She played harshly and bitterly. Horsehairs on her bow broke in several different direction as she played swiftly. Her song seemed to mock anyone who once thought that happiness could be found so simply.

As her eyes locked with Christian’s, his body stiffened. He needed to follow the notes he was given.

He tried to play as it was written, but her persistence made him feel as though he had to agree. Ignoring the pages, he played alongside her. Together they played a song of agony and hatred. She hadn’t come to save him from his sorrows, but to push him further into them.

“It’s her!” Ruth yelled out without thinking.

Christian heard her shout and stopped playing.

The lights were quickly switched on by a volunteering off duty cop dad, but everyone was confused as to what was going on.

With a disappointed sigh, the masked figure pulled a sharp dagger out of her boot. With a quick flick of her wrist, it cut a cord from the chandelier and sent it swinging into the crowd, causing everyone to go into an extreme panic.

During the commotion, the masked girl grabbed Christian’s wrist. In his confusion, he couldn’t help but let himself be dragged along.

“Wait!” yelled Ruth as she climbed onto the stage.

Erika tugged on a chord behind the curtain. Pulling Christian close to her, they both fell through the floor.

“Oh no you don’t!” Ruth ran toward the trap door.

“Hold it-” Mr. Persia was trying to keep up behind, but tripped on one of the empty folding chairs on stage. As he fell, the two of them slipped through the hole right before it snapped closed.

While they were hurdling down to who-knows-where, the police officers were conducting a safe exit from the auditorium, while some teachers went to get fire extinguishers. Wasn’t the chandelier supposed to be electric? Who switched it out with candles?

Carlos yelped pitifully when he found Peggy sprawled across the floor offstage. A parent quickly scooped her up and led the two out of the room, assuring the boy that his friend was still alive.

What about the weird odds of that chandelier hitting a visiting rich, elderly grandma who was surrounded by her bodyguards? Thank goodness she wasn’t killed, but an ambulance was definitely needed as soon as possible. What kind of performance was this?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their feet barely hit the ground before Christian and Erika took off down the hallway. “Was that really necessary?” spoke Christian, “What happens if you hurt someone?!”

“I don’t care about anyone else.” she quickly pulled him toward the left. Even though it was so dark she still knew how to navigate around. “Down we plunge once more…” she hummed silently.

“This wasn’t part of the plan.” he said right before he heard a thud echo through the catacombs.

Erika paused for just long enough to open some hatch to their left. She pushed Christian in then closed it quickly behind them. “Plans change.”

Deeper and deeper they traveled until they reached a more familiar dwelling. Somehow they had reached Erika’s place.

“You don’t have to act this way, Erika.” Christian tried to start a conversation, “You’re not a hideous beast.”

“Then why do people scream when they see me?!” she pulled off her mask and tossed it on the chair behind her. The way her skin tightly clung to half of her face made it seem as if she had no skin at all. It was as if death was slowly creeping across her face. Her black hair was cut short, though she had bangs, possibly an attempt to try to cover part of the face she loathed. Proof of her hatred were the long scars that traced down to side of her face, possibly made by her own hands. When it came to her eyes, the one that was amidst the youthful half was blue, while the other was a golden eye that would glow in the dark.

Christian’s silence was a torture to Erika.

“This face earned me nothing but my mother’s fear and loathing.” she said with words of hatred, “I remember my first mask… that unfeeling strap of clothing…” she grabbed Christian’s collar, “But pity comes too late! It’s time to face your fate!”

A scream was heard coming from up the stairs.

“It appears, my dear, we have a guest.” she whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ruth landed right on top of Mr. Persia when they hit the bottom of the hole.

“Ouch!” he moaned as he pushed her off, “Didn’t you fall first? How’d you end up on top of me?”

“And have you crush me under your massive body? I don’t think so!” scoffed Ruth, “Now hurry up.” she stood to her feet, “They couldn’t have gone too far.”

“I’m not so sure about that…” he pulled a mini flashlight out of his pocket, “she knows this place like the back of her hand. Who knows where they could have gone.”

“Hey, I thought you were supposed to be the guide.” Ruth pushed him in front of her, “Start guiding.”

“Fine, but you must do as I instructed before.” he raised his arm to eyelevel.

She felt a little silly, but if this was going to get him going then she’d do it.

They carefully watched their steps as they made their way down the first hall. When they reached the end, Mr. Persia decided that their best bet would be to turn left, but he wasn’t entirely knowledgeable of how to get there from their current position.

“Wait!” Ruth pulled Mr. Persia back as a glowing light seemed to be coming towards them. “Do you think that’s them?”

“Why would they be coming back?” he brushed aside the stupid question, “It’s probably the rat catcher.”

They both stood very still as the man hurried by. His face looked as though it was on fire, but the rats were definitely running from him.

“I didn’t know there would be such a person under the school.” she whispered as the flaming man disappeared.

“How would you have known?” Mr. Persia started moving again, “Nobody knows about that ghost.”

“Eh?!”

“Shhhh!” he turned to her angrily, “You’ll give away our position!”

“But you said he was a ghost.”

“Yes. Warren A. Ghost. The whole family is a little whacky in the head… come along!”

Still stupefied by such an odd encounter, they continued on. Ruth was trying to shake the image out of her head.

“Are you keeping your hand up?” he reminded her as they were now just aimlessly walking down this long hall.

“Yes, yes…” she mumbled back, “I’m sure keeping my hand in such an uncomfortable position for a long amount of time will surely be enough to protect me.”

“Can’t you be grateful for me giving you such handy dandy _easy_ instructions for you to follow instead of complaining?!”

“I just don’t understand why I need-”

“AHHH!” the two yelled in unison as they fell through another hole.

“Again?” Mr. Persia complained as Ruth sat on his back, his body breaking her fall once more.

“What just happened?” she tried looked about the dark room. She touched the wall, but it didn’t feel like the stone they had just been walking along. It was cool and smooth.

“It couldn’t be…” Mr. Persia also felt along the walls.

“What is it? Where are we?” she was starting to get worried by his silence.

“Smooth… enclosed area… quickly, we need to get out of here!” he ordered, “There has to be an escape around here somewhere!”

“What’s going on?” Ruth demanded.

He gulped nervously before answering, “We’ve fallen into a replica of the torture chamber.” Both paled in a panic.

“No, let me look for you.” came a familiar voice. But from where?

“Oh, you’re such a gentleman.” said another, quieter voice.

A small light streamed into their prison box as a curtain was drawn to the side. Ruth’s eyes locked onto Christian’s silhouette.

“Chris-!” she started to call out, but her companion slapped his hand over her mouth.

“No,” Christian called down to whomever he accompanied, “I don’t see anyone here.”

“Are you sure? I could have sworn there was a noise just now.”

“I’m sure!” the curtain slid closed again, “I think it would have been obvious if someone was in there…”

The voices slowly became silent, then nonexistent.

“Did he really not see us?” she groaned sadly as Mr. Persia released her.

“Are you really this stupid?” he flicked her forehead, “He was trying to protect us. Note that a torture room is used for _torturing_ people.” he wiped his brow, “But I have a feeling his attempt may have been in vain…”

“So I’m not the only one that’s starting to get warm?” she pulled her jacket off, “Isn’t it supposed to get colder the further down you go?”

“Not in a room where heat is compacted to drive its inhabitants mad.”

The room suddenly lit up brightly, revealing a tree with a noose hanging from the one lone branch. It was getting hotter and quickly.


	14. Chapter 14

“I’m going to die…” Ruth moaned as she laid in the middle of the floor. Her clothes were completely soaked through. She couldn’t believe the images of some place in Africa that surrounded her, giving her a feeling of absolute exhaustion. Where was the oasis people talked about? Turning her head, she thought that the noose was looking more inviting as time went on.

“We have to keep our heads.” Mr. Persia was lightly tracing his hand around the room, “Do you really want Erika to succeed in her plans?”

“Of course not,” she rolled over to her side, “but I feel like all the organs inside me have melted. It won’t be long until my face starts melting. They’ll have to carry my body out of here in a bucket.”

“You’d really burden someone with such a disgusting task?” he laughed, though his voice quivered out of lack of moisture in his throat.

She shrugged, “I’m dead. What do I care?” something smacked her on the head, “Hey!” she yelped as she sat up. She looked around and picked up the weapon used against her. “You’ve sunk to using your own footwear against me?” she waved the shoe at him.

“If it gets you to stop talking nonsense, than yes. Now come over here!”

Crawling like a slug, Ruth reached Mr. Persia’s side. “You’re right,” she laid on her back once more, “Dying over here would be much more pleasant than dying over there.”

“I would almost leave you here,” coughed Mr. Persia, “but I don’t think Christian would be pleased.” he pulled on a hidden handle opening a secret escape. Pulling Ruth close to him, they both weakly tumbled through.

Panting on the ground, the two welcomed the cooler air that surrounded them. They smiled at each other, then passed out.

“Well done.” Erika looked at the defenseless beings before her. She knelt down and stared at Ruth’s face closely, “The triumph is mine.” she chuckled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Persia quickly sat up, “Erika!” he yelled, but the room was silent. He was panting as he looked around. Where was he?

“Oh, you’re awake!” came the chipper voice of a woman as she entered the room.

“It would appear so…” he mumbled, “but to where I have awakened, I am not quite certain.”

“Ah, yes;” she pointed to the gown he was wearing, “you are currently in the hospital.” he looked down at this spotted light material covering his body, “I must say that you puzzled the doctors when I brought you in. They didn’t understand how you could have gotten heatstroke in the middle of this chilly autumn weather.”

“It’s a very long story…” he looked at her, “but I’m curious as to how you came to find me.”

She sighed, “I’ve got a _long_ story of my own.” shaking her head, “I… ‘accidentally’ stumbled into the water system beneath the school in attempts on getting some information that currently is of great interest to me. As I wandered through the catacombs, I found myself completely lost. Next thing I know, there is this light heading towards me. I thought that maybe someone had come to my rescue, but it ended up being this… creepy guy with a glowing face?”

Mr. Persia raised an eyebrow, trying to play off a confused look.

“Guess that doesn’t make much sense to you…” she continued, “but he scared the wits out of me! I took off to the great unknown, hoping to somehow stumble upon sunlight, but no such luck. But I did find an odd boat. You can understand my peaked curiosity, so I decided to… take a quick ride.”

“Sounds a bit like stealing.” added Mr. Persia.

“Investigative journalism.” she countered. It seemed that this was not her first rodeo where she had to come up with an excuse for ‘borrowing’ something that was not hers. “But the oddest thing happened when I was paddling… the room, at first, was fairly bright, and I thought that maybe it would lead to an exit. Right as I spotted what seemed to be a finely furnished room, I slipped right out of the boat! I couldn’t even stand up. I thought I was going to die.”

“Sounds extremely dangerous.” a memory of a similar circumstance happening to him not so long ago flashed through his mind.

“You’re telling me! But, somehow, I woke up in a cold damp hallway. When I had the strength, I carefully walked down the hall, being attracted to a small light like a bug. It ended up being a little flashlight lying next to you. I kind of… commandeered it to have a better look around. Who would’ve known that a ladder would be just a few feet away?” she laughed oddly, “So I climbed it and ended up on stage in a school. From there I managed to get some help to pull you up and we headed to the hospital.”

“Did you obtain any injuries yourself?”

“Just a little burn from my scarf.” she pulled down the ornament cloth that wrapped around her neck, “I must have tied it too tight, or something.”

“Hmm…” Mr. Persia had some suspicions on the markings around her neck. “You’ll do anything to get a story, Miss Chagny?” he said good naturedly.

“Huh?” her eyes twinkled, “You know me?”

“Yes, ma’am.” he smiled pleasantly, “I’m the music teacher at Garnier High School.”

“Then what were you doing under ground?”

“Investigating with your sister. How is she doing?”

A strange expression came over Felicia’s face, “I found you alone.” she said nervously.

Horror stricken, Mr. Persia swiftly pulled the sheet off of himself, “We have to go back to the school.” he staggered onto his feet, “Quickly; please bring me my clothes.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” she grabbed up her purse, “but I don’t know if the fire department will let us back in.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked in a panic.

“Didn’t you know? The auditorium caught on fire!” she called as she hurried out of the room to contact a doctor and request some pants ASAP.

“ _Oh, Ruth,”_ he thought to himself, _“I hope you’re safe…”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christian struggled to get out of his bonds, but his attempts were fruitless. Erika had suddenly brought him to this well after he spotted Ruth in that odd room, then she tied him to this chair. She must have noticed he was lying when he said he hadn’t seen anything. What was she going to do to Ruth?

His face grew pale as he thought of Ruth being tortured to death. He’d been here for quite some time now. What if she already was dead? If that was the case, what was his point on going through all of this? He wanted to protect her, but he failed. Why had she been so stubborn? Couldn’t she have just heeded his warning and gone back to her family?

He looked at the mouth of the well. Instantly, this could all be over if he just disappeared himself. Bending his head back, he prepared to swing himself against the corner of the fixture. On impact, his head ached as blood trickled down his temple. Apparently the first hit wasn’t enough, so he positioned himself for another blow.

As he fell forward something blocked his path.

“You can’t do this!” Erika moaned as she saw the blood on his head. She pulled the chair away from the well, “I can’t have you die.” she hugged his head close to her, “Don’t leave me… I love you… ”

Christian’s eyes were cold, “I can’t live a life with someone who constantly kills those who don’t please her.”

“Don’t say such things.” her voice croaked, “What if I told you she was still alive?”

“You’d be lying to me.” he replied coldly.

“I swear on my life that she currently lives.” she looked him straight in the face, “If you promise me not to run away, I will let you see her.” She seemed to be in complete earnest, so Christian nodded in agreement.

Once the ropes were removed, Erika brought him down another path that led to a staircase. With a torch in hand, the two made their way down.

Christian’s eyes widened as he saw Ruth behind bars. Her hands were tied above her head to the metal poles while a noose hung loosely about her neck.

Her face lightened up as she saw him, “Thank goodness you’re alright!” she smiled weakly.

“Did you think that I would harm him?” said Erika angrily.

“Well it looks like you started to.” she spat back. “Why is he bleeding if you didn’t hurt him? There’s also blood on your clothes.”

“I did it to myself.” Christian cut in, “I tried to kill myself.”

Ruth’s jaw dropped, “You were going to let all of my efforts be in vain?!” she shook the bars angrily, “Forget it; I’ll kill you myself!”

“She admits to murderous intent.” Erika pointed in a condemning motion, “I could dispose of her now.”

“It was more of an expression.” the object of their quarrel spoke, “Why did you tie her in such a way? She was already locked in there.”

“Symbolization.” the captor walked up to the cage, “You see, if the person keeps their hands at the level of their eyes, when a noose is wrapped around their neck, they are able to slip it off with their arm.”

Ruth hit her head against the bars, “Oh! That’s what his deal was!” she groaned, “Why couldn’t he have just said so?”

“Now for business.” Erika leaned against the prison, “I’m going to give you a choice.”

“What kind of choice?” Christian stepped forward.

“You might not have remembered, but this is the where I placed my equipment.” she smirked.

“What kind of equipment?” Ruth tried to look about her, “What… what’re those red boxes?”

Erika’s eyes lit up as she turned to her captive, “Gun powder.” she seemed to say this with absolute enjoyment, “Several boxes of it. Enough to blow the whole school sky high.” she turned back to Christian, “So the proposition still stands as it did before, but this time with added importance. Either you spend the rest of your days with me and I will soak the powder, rendering it useless. Or I light it up and send your friend to her grave.”

“Why have him lie to you to save me?!” Ruth tried to sound unmoved, but her eyes widened as she realized something, “Christian, you knew about these explosives?” he nodded slowly, “When you told me I was in danger… that everything was bigger than I realized… you were talking about this, weren’t you?” a tear rolled down her cheek.

“But you just wouldn’t listen to him.” Erika said coldly, “You came and ruined everything. I would not have had to take such measures if you had just never come.” her hands shook furiously, “He may have even fallen for me… if it wasn’t for you… and this face, which poisons our love…”

“That’s-” she began to speak, when Christian walked up to Erika.

“That’s why I told you that I wanted to help you.” he smiled at her. His hand gently brushed against her disfigured cheek, “This haunted face holds no horror for me now. It's in your soul that the true distortion lies… Pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known?” the girls’ eyes widened as he kissed her on the forehead, “Let me tell you, you are not alone.”

“I… I…” tears viciously poured down Erika’s face. Quickly, she pushed him away, “Just take her…” she reached into her pocket and pulled a small switch knife. She stepped aside while Christian got to work on cutting Ruth’s bonds.

When she was free, Christian wrapped his arms around Ruth as she weakly struggled to stand. He wrapped one of her arms around his neck and the three of them headed up the stairs.

Erika walked over to a long rope and yanked on it. An obvious flow of water was heard gushing into the downstairs room. She then led them to the boat, “Forget me…” she said mournfully, “forget all of this. Take the boat and go back to the surface with the living.” Christian helped Ruth climb into their ride, “Just leave me alone. Forget all you've seen…”

When Ruth was safely seated, Christian turned back to Erika.

“Swear to me,” she looked at him with tears still keeping her eyes moistened, “never to tell anyone about me.”

“No.” said Christian sternly.

“What…?”

“You think that I’ll let you just stay here alone?” he smoothed her hair, “I’ve been in your darkness, but I have found light. So please…” he grabbed her hand, “come with me.”

Erika swallowed in disbelief.

“He’s being serious, you know…” moaned Ruth. With the adrenaline wearing off it wouldn’t be long until she passed out again, “Just get in the boat so we can get out of here.”

With mumbled words only Christian could hear, Erika said, “You alone can make my song take flight…”

He smiled at her, “It’s over now.” he whispered back, “You no longer need to play the music of the night.”


	15. Chapter 15

“You don’t understand! We _have_ to get in there!” Mr. Persia begged a firefighter.

“We don’t know if the area is stable enough yet.” he tried to calm him, “We don’t want the roof crashing down on anyone.”

“I can see the roof; it looks just fine from here!”

“Look, sir, I’m just doing my job.”

“Excuse me,” Felicia stepped forward wearing her newspaper nametag, with pen and paper in hand, “Do you think you could give me some insight on the exact type of damage this school has received?”

“Uhh…” he scratched his head as he looked around. The fire had been put out and all he was doing was standing there, so why not? “I guess it would be okay.”

“That’s fantastic!” she smiled sweetly, “This may take a while, so feel free to take off your coat, if you want.” Mr. Persia didn’t understand how she influenced the man to take off the coat, but while she had the fireman distracted, he snatched it up and snuck into the school.

He looked about the empty auditorium as he entered. The damage wasn’t too horrible, but the large cloth rug that lined the floor had to be one of the major factors that kept the flames burning.

Turning his attention to the stage, his eyes widened as he saw Erika standing there alone without her mask.

“What-” he burned with anger, “where is Ruth?” he demanded.

Erika let out a deep sigh, “I gutted her and splattered her organs all about my private cell beneath the school.” she pulled on her shirt to show a blood splatter, “Would you like me to show you her remains?”

Mr. Persia felt as though he were going to throw up. “How could you… how could you do such a thing?!”

“She couldn’t!” yelled Ruth as she hobbled out of the darkness, her arm still wrapped about Christian’s neck, “I wouldn’t have possibly died so easily without at least _injuring_ my opponent!”

“Please,” Erika crossed her arms in a peeved fashion, “I could kill you with a hand behind my back.”

“Say that again when I’ve got my fencing sword in my hand!”

“Gladly.”

The girls scowled competitively at each other.

Mr. Persia leaned against the stage trying to calm his own heart, “You really had me going there.” he laughed nervously, “I was so worried.”

“Would you get up here and help me with her?” asked Christian in an annoyed tone.

“What are you trying to say?” growled Ruth.

Mr. Persia had just reached the top of the stage when the doors swung open, “Hey, what are you people doing in here?!” yelled the fire chief as he marched into the room. “It’s not safe to be-” his eyes spotted Erika. “What in the world is that?!” his hand shook as he pointed at her.

Ruth chuckled menacingly, “Her?” she smiled, “Why, she’s the phantom of the orchestra!”

Her three companions gave Ruth a look.

“That was so beyond cheesy.” coughed Christian.

“I thought it was pretty clever…” murmured Ruth.

“Whatever the case,” the chief started up again, “all of you need to get out of here! The roof is about to collapse!” a loud creak was heard above them as if to prove that the man spoke no lies.

They had barely exiting the school when smoke billowed into the sky from the falling roof. Felicia held Ruth close to her as they all stared on in surprise.

But their attention wasn’t on the building for long. Soon people were whispering and pointing at Erika.

Her facial expression grew dark as the sad reality came back to her. She was hideous and it was obvious. Why hadn’t she just stayed in her hole, far away from these cruel beings? Maybe she could scare them away.

As she thought this, Christian wrapped his arm around her, “You know it’s rude to whisper about someone!” he spoke loudly, “If you’ve got something to say, then come out and say it to me.”

Erika’s heart skipped a beat as she felt her face start to redden. Was she really blushing?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To recompense for the disaster she caused, Erika was put in charge of designing the new architecture of the school auditorium, which she would work on in secret late at night.

Until they could find a replacement dwelling, Erika had moved in with Christian and Dr. Valerian. This was also an ideal location for her because she had recently gone through surgery, prior the doctor’s request (Christian might have also nudged her a bit), and with her living there he would be able to personally keep an eye on her progress.

It took quite a few months, but the building was finally finished under Erika’s guidance.

“It needed a little fixing up!” Mr. Monchester had commented. It was Mr. Persia’s idea to never inform the principals who their previous note leaver had been. If only they had known that she was not only the reason behind their gray hairs, but also the original destructor of the room, they probably wouldn’t praise her work now.

This new school year was absent of that heavy, destructive feeling that had once plagued the building the year before.

“So is Erika going to get a job, or something?” asked Ruth as she walked into school early with Christian. After spending the summer with her family, she had somehow convinced her father to let her finish high school here. But it eased the man’s mind knowing that Felicia would be transferring to stay with her.

Christian smiled, “She told me that she already got one,” he shrugged, “but didn’t tell me what.”

“As long as she won’t be a freeloader at your house anymore, I guess anything is okay.”

“I’m worried about her…” Christian rubbed his chin as they walked down the hallway, “even though the surgery was a success, she still isn’t quite used to other human interaction.”

“But she did work with the constructors during the renovation.” said Ruth.

“Yes, but she was still bandaged during that time. Now that they’ve been taken off…” he opened the music room door, “I don’t know how well she’s going to do.”

Their eyes widened when they saw a girl sitting on the teacher’s desk. She was calmly playing a song on a shiny flute.

When the song ended, she smiled at them with an air of confidence, “I think I can handle myself pretty well.” said Erika.

The doctors had been able to loosen her tight skin to make it look more normal, which ended up making her scars less noticeable. They also helped her with other deformities that afflicted her, but her eyes stayed the same different colors.

“What are you doing here?” asked Ruth.

“I’m going to be the assistant music teacher.” she smiled back evilly, “Since I have such amazing musical talent, which you possess none of, I can pretty much play any instrument.”

Before Ruth could attack Erika, Christian butted in, “What was that song you were just playing?” he asked.

“Just a little something I’ve been working on for a while.” she smiled.

A vain pulsated on Ruth’s forehead, “Don’t smile at him so willy nilly…” she warned.

“And why not?” Erika hissed back menacingly, “He’s more mine than he is yours.”

“How do you figure that?!”

Erika pointed to Christian’s hand, “He still wears the ring I gave him.”

Ruth looked at the hand in horror, “Why are you still wearing that thing?!”

With a shrug, Christian replied, “I kind of like it.”

Ruth’s head steamed, “Well I don’t!”

Laughing, Erika wrapped her arms around Christian, “I love it.” then she kissed him on the cheek.

“Good morning!” Mr. Persia said as he walked in unsuspectingly. It was the perfect timing for him to lose his hearing.

As Ruth and Erika had it out with each other, with Mr. Persia refereeing, Christian took his seat.

He looked out the window and smiled. No longer was he afraid. No more did nightmares plague his dreams. This was his new family, and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“ _Pffffft!”_ he laughed to himself, _“Phantom of the Orchestra… what ridiculousness.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed my gender-reversal, retelling of Phantom of the Opera! You're all great, but it's over now the story that I wrooooote! Bye!

**Author's Note:**

> *DISCLAIMER* I don't own any rights to The Phantom of the Opera. I am not the reincarnation of Gaston Leroux, or have any affiliation with Andrew Lloyd Webber, and make no money off switching the genders of the famous characters from the original story(ies).


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